The Reluctant Heroes
by CajunKing000
Summary: Jump City hasn't had any kind of hero in a long time. Who wants to be a hero these days? Putting your life on the line every second of every day. Heroes attract super villains like flies to honey. So many are just hiding now... Afraid to show their powers... They try to blend in. Jump City really needs heroes now more than ever. Accepting Ocs Closed until further notice.
1. Chapter 1

**And here is the first chapter of my Teen Titan's fic. I wanted to get this out there and depending on the response will decide the future of my other fic.**

**Other than a lot more characters, I am looking for a co-author to help me out a bit. It would definitely help me. I won't take up anymore of your time, so here you go.**

* * *

_The word 'Hero'... The word 'Heroine'… Both are defined as a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. No matter how you slice it with gender, or anything else, that's what a Hero is typically._

"Help! He stole my purse!" A woman screamed, her purse being wrenched from her clutches by the hooded thug. He ran at full speed, shouldering people aside, some others blatantly ignored him. They spared him a passing glance, but that was it. Barely anyone tried to stop him…

_There hasn't been any kind of 'Hero' for a long… long time. Well, not for Jump City at least…_

People stood outside of a television store, watching the news that was playing from TVs in the display window, "Recent crime statistics given to us by the FBI show that the crime rate in Jump City is up six percent from last year's average. And, unfortunately, they say it seems to be rising…"

_The word Hero… or anything denoting it just seems to be taboo… It's like venom to people's ears. They don't want to hear it…_

"No… Please n- No No NO!" It was too late. He tried to beg for his life. There was a click, and a millisecond a gunshot exploded from the muzzle in flash of smoke and flames, tearing through the air. And the target's chest. He was dead before he hit the ground. He was looted for his wallet and anything expensive. The homeless took his boots, his blood-stained jacket, whatever was worth taking…

_The Teen Titans. You would only hear about them now. How much of a menace they were, despite saving Jump City on several occasions. Sure, people spoke up in their defense, but that was in the past, now they fa ed being total social pariahs if they so much as tried. They used to have a statue in the city: Robin, Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy. A bronze statue. It was erected not long after they went their separate ways. It actually looked pretty cool back then…_

_But, like I said. They __used__ to have one._

"Mr. McKinnion…" The teacher drawled. There was no response, "Mr. McKinnion…" The teacher called the name out a little bit more forcefully. He turned away from the chalkboard, and he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Mr. McKinnion!"

A young man jumped in his seat. He slid back, alarming both himself and the entire class when the legs of the chair ground against the tiled floor. The young man snorted, and shook his head, "True… Mm, four…" He answered, running both of his hands through his hair. The class went in to uproarious laughter, but that was ended almost as quickly as it began.

The teacher smacked his wooden ruler against his desk, effectively silencing the class.

"Mr. McKinnion, despite the other teachers putting up with your constant sleeping, I will not! Now wake up, and pay attention!" The teacher said sternly. His eyes were hidden behind the glare of the sun on his lenses, but the class could tell he was glaring. He always was.

The young man nodded, or it was his head bobbing as he tried to stay awake, 'Yeah… Sorry about that, teach…" He apologized.

The teacher 'hmphed' and turned back to his chalkboard, "Pay close attention class, we'll be having a quiz Friday."

That announcement received a simultaneous groan from the class. The teacher didn't even have to look this time around to silence them. A simple, loud smack with that ruler against the desk and the class was back to work, writing down notes.

The young man who had been scolded was one who decided not to. He rested his cheek in his palm, he sighed to himself, as quietly as he could. He was stuck in the middle of the classroom, and oh how he wished to be near the windows.

He glanced passed the two people that kept him from making his daydreams of daydreaming by the window a reality. From where he sat he could see some of the city.

He saw someone get mugged. They were just beaten; they were left on the ground while the two thugs ran away. No one came to help them.

_There haven't been any heroes in this city for a long, long time._

* * *

He walked along. His hands stuff in to the pockets of his grey uniform pants. Amongst the masses of Jump City that were pandering about almost aimlessly, he blended in perfectly, the way he moved anyway. Slightly above average in height with messy grey hair atop his head, he didn't exactly blend in.

He yawned to himself and brought out a pair of blue aviator shades with red tinted lenses. He put them on and looked up towards the sky…

"Not a cloud in the sky… That's a shame…" He spoke to himself. That was the only person he could talk to. Himself. Around anyone else he was stuttering mess.

He loosed the black tie of his school issued uniform and unbuttoned the top button. He rolled up his sleeves and he was finally able to relax, if only for a little while.

"AAAAAAAHH!" A scream tore through the air followed by a horrible crash. Glass shattered. People scattered. They fell to the ground and covered their heads, or covered their children to protect them from danger. He cringed hearing steel grind against steel and he too fell to one knee, a couple loud bangs getting his heart racing.

He looked around wildly in his panic, while still trying to keep his head low. A truck had t-boned a tow truck on the road. The tow truck was still upright, but it's wheels were destroyed, in several hundred pieces of smoking rubber amongst black streaks on the ground.

Several people hopped out of the offending truck and ran away from the scene, stumbling and fumbling around like fools. He slowly stood up.

Those guys were drunk.

The people saw this for themselves. They murmured amongst themselves, cursing those drunken drivers and saying they'd do something about it.

'_Unlikely…' _He thought, flipping up his sunglasses and resting them on his head. He moved against the crowd, against his better judgment at that, he got closer to the scene. In his mind he was screaming at the people 'There could be someone in there' and 'Help him' but he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.

He glanced at the people. At least those people gathered around the scene, where the truck was stuck to the tow truck by its grill, seemed worried.

The sound of sirens could be heard not far off. It had been five minutes or so! Great response time!

He shook these thoughts from his head. He took a single step towards the scene and suddenly jumped. A blaze ignited, it roared to life and extended high in to the air. He was knocked on to his butt, many people ran scared. He scurried back, visibly shaking.

Then he saw it. A hand weakly slapping the cracked glass.

His heart rate increased. His breathing quickened and he clutched at his chest. He couldn't breathe. Why couldn't he breathe?

He hadn't known we he had done it. The next thing he knew he found himself inches from the door. He was looking I nto the half-lidded eyes, the terrified eyes, of the person trapped within. He didn't have much time, neither of them did with that blaze.

"H-hang on!" The young man croaked out. Over the blaze, he doubted the driver heard him. He grabbed the door handle and pulled out it, trying to force it open, but the handle gave way and broke. He fell on his butt. He yelped, and suddenly clutched his hand to his chest.

He looked at his hand. It was red. Blood ran from the gash in his palm.

His heart rate increased. His chest was getting tighter…

"Help… Me…" The driver found the strength to pound against the window. He was snapped from his trance. He got to his feet and looked at the door, until he finally found to places that he could grab it. He planted his feet firmly with one behind him.

He started to pull.

The sirens. The crackling flames that crept along the ground closer and closer. From where he stood he could feel the heat, the intense heat. Sweat dripped down his face from the exertion of energy. He pulled. He pulled again and again, but the door wasn't budging.

All of that noise. He couldn't think. He found himself panting, he leaned forward and put his forehead against the cracked glass of the car window. He couldn't think. His chest… It felt so tight… His heart was racing so fast that he thought it would burst from his chest. A high pitched whistle took over his hearing.

"….Aaaaah!" He suddenly found himself screaming, not in pain, but… He didn't know why. He pulled and ripped the door free. He tossed it away without a second thought. His arms fell limply to his sides, throbbing in pain.

He wobbled on his feet. He couldn't think straight. His world was a big blur…

"K – kid!"

He was snapped awake yet again. He saw the driver reaching towards him and the man placed a hand on his shoulder. He quickly helped the man out of the vehicle, and began sprinting away, despite the man's dragging along the ground because of their height difference.

The moment the police cruisers and the ambulances slid to a halt at the scene, the truck exploded, and took the tow truck with it. Everyone fell to the ground and screamed their lungs out in terror. Those who remained standing were knocked off of their feet by the shockwave, like the young man and tow truck driver.

The young man's head struck the ground. His body froze. His heart was still running, his body was tingling, but he couldn't move. His world went black…

* * *

**-Later-**

"I swear, that kid that saved me! Tore my door clean off of my truck!" The tow truck driver exclaimed while the paramedic was stitching up his wounds. He had a smile on his face, he looked as happy as he could be despite the injuries he had sustained. Other paramedics were fanned out amongst the people to see if anyone else had been hurt. Luckily it was bandaging a kid's scraped knee or elbow, and no shrapnel had caused any serious injury.

To the people. Some property was damaged though.

"Uh huh… sounds interesting," The paramedic replied plainly, as if he wasn't even listening.

The tow truck driver looked around for a moment, trying to peer around the ambulance, "Where did he go anyway? I think his hand was cut…?"

"One of the other EMT's patched up a kid's hand and then he left in kind of a hurry, we lost track of him in the crowd," the paramedic answered him, cutting the string to his stitches, "We should take you to the hospital in case you suffered a concussion or anything, just to make sure."

"Uh huh…" Now it was the tow truck driver that seemed to be ignoring the EMT. He hopped up and looked around, holding his hand over his eyes to shield them from the bright light of the sun, hoping it would help his search.

"Aha!" A grin spread across his face. He moved quickly, with a slight limp in his step, "Hey, hey kid, wait up!"

He did stop, though he had no idea why. He had just ripped a door off of a car. In public. In broad daylight. With a crowd watching. He hadn't realized! Whatever they wanted he probably wouldn't be able to stop them from taking, not with his right arm in the shape it was. With his adrenaline wearing off, he was definitely feeling some pain. Quite a bit.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw it was the driver. He was limping along away from the ambulance that was trying to help him. He was smiling…

"Kid…" He stopped, doubled over panting, trying to catch his breath, "Kid… You saved my life back there," The man finally said. He reached up and patted the young man's shoulder.

"That… that was a-amazing… What you did…" He said, beginning to laugh a bit, "I don't know how… How you did that, but it… it was definitely amazing!" He took the young man's hand and began to vigorously shake it, "I'm a mechanic in town kid, the name's Travis, and if you're ever… _ever_ having some car troubles or anything, come and see me, Mike's Car Shop."

The young man slowly nodded, rather dumbfounded and his face expressed that well.

"What's your name anyway?" Travis asked him, letting go of his hand.

The young man blinked rapidly. When he finally came to, he realized what the Mechanic asked him. He rubbed his sore arm, and replied, "S-Seth… Seth McKinnion."

"Seth… Well thank you kindly, Seth. You're a hero today, kid."

* * *

**And that's all for the first chapter.**

**An accepting OCs story and I'm looking for about 4 – 5 for the team. It's not first come, first serve mind you, so no need to rush to try and get a spot. I only take PMs, sorry to those without accounts, but I'd like to keep this story up.**

**Please submit a character. The faster I get them, the quicker I can make chapters :) The OC sheet is on my profile.**

**Until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome all to chapter two.**

**I do have something to say, and then I won't waste anymore of your time: I am no longer accepting Ocs for the team. I am however still willing to accept a few more Ocs for minor Villains, Vigilante and loner hero characters.**

* * *

Eyes wide open; Seth lay in his bed with his arms folded behind his head. The music from his iPod blared in his ears. He hadn't slept at all the previous night after he got home. The culmination of the explosion, having ripped a car door off its hinges, and his frightening adrenaline rush kept him wide awake. He went home, ate dinner and for the following twelve hours he just laid there listening to his songs on a loop.

He reached over, and the very second his alarm clock came to life, he hit the snooze button. A loud yawn escaped him. He groaned…

"Today's gonna be a pain in my neck…" He sat up and yawned yet again. He flicked on the TV, listening to the news while he went about his daily routine.

"… _Following yesterday's accident, authorities spoke with the victim of the collision, Travis Connors, who unfortunately did not get a good enough look at the perpetrators, but several credible witnesses at the scene report seeing two men running away from the scene only moments after. Police are on the search now, and it shouldn't be long now before these criminals are brought to justice."_

"_Thanks, Trish; it's always refreshing to hear some good news these days. Speaking of yesterday's events, several witnesses at the scene reported a young man ripping the door off of Travis Connors' car. He was also asked about these events…" _

Seth froze in the midst of pulling his shirt over his head. No…

"_But he refused to answer any questions we had." _

He released a sigh of relief that he hadn't known he was holding. He pulled his shirt off and winced. He held his right arm, which had been hurting since yesterday. He took notice of the two dark bruises on his bicep. He flexed, and curled and uncurled his fingers. He was stiff…

"I should go to the hospital…" He murmured.

"Seth! Your breakfast is ready!" His mother shouted up to him.

"Be right down!" He shouted back. He briefly tried to work his arm, wanting to know how limited his movement was. He gasped and hissed in pain. He would definitely be having trouble today…

Then an idea came to mind. He would need time to sleep any way. He grabbed a long sleeve shirt to hide his bruises and then threw on some socks. He jogged out of his room, and set his plan in motion…

"Whoa!"

"SETH!"

"Missed a step… Ow… Ow… My arm… Ow… Son of a – Mmm!" He was helped to his feet by his mother, holding his arm and also holding in a silent scream. He had several dark bruises on his arm. He knew he had to make the damage look authentic, and unfortunately that called for falling hard, very hard, on to his already injured arm.

* * *

"You should be more careful when you're going down the stairs, Seth," His mom chided. She glanced over at her son who was reclining in his seat, his eyes closed. His right arm was in a sling, "Running in your socks? This is the fourth time this has happened now!"

"I know…" He would've smirked, if he didn't think it would somehow give him away. He got a day or two off of school, and he could sleep any time. His arm throbbed and he winced.

"Are you all right?" She asked him, her focus shifting from the road to him every few seconds.

"Just a little pain, it's nothing serious…" He replied. He yawned and closed his eyes for a quick cat nap. He'd be able to sleep a lot more once he got home. His mind drifted to his time at school, then the accident and Travis calling him a hero… He knew he had some weird super strength. It was pretty obvious. He had no idea how long he had been sleeping, it felt like just a few minutes, and he was jerked awake by a sudden halt.

His heartbeat started to race, he clutched at his chest…

"Seth! Seth, it's all right, calm down!" He jumped slightly at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder, but it passed quickly as soon as he realized it was his mother. She gently cupped his chin and turned his head towards her, "All the color just left your face," She was chuckling slightly, "Calm down, I just stopped to fill up the gas tank. We'll be home in no time."

Seth just nodded his head. The moment his mother exited the car, his head fell back with a plop against the headrest.

That scared the daylights out of him. He closed his eyes, trying to get his heart rate to go down…

He glanced out his window. His eyes widened. Two people ran up to a car stopped at a red light and immediately, without hesitation, shattered the driver side window with a tire iron. A gun was pulled on the driver. They were forcibly pulled from the car.

He got out and slowly rose out of his seat. His heart beat was picking up again… His chest was growing tighter.

The driver, a woman, quickly took her two kids from the backseat, who immediately clung to her for protection. The two carjackers sped off, clipping people who tried to get in their way. Sirens blared to life and two police cruisers sped off after them, leaving smoke in their wake.

"Seth!" His mother jogged out of the gas station, "Seth, what happened?" She asked. His eyes were wide; he was staring at the street, visibly shaking. He jumped in fright, falling on his butt the moment his mother touched his shoulder, "Seth! It's okay! It's me, just calm down!"

He clutched at his chest with his free hand. His vision began to darken at the edges. His heart was pounding in his ears, he could hear his mother calling to him, but he couldn't make heads or tails of his own name. He felt his body moving. She was shaking him…

His eyes rolled back. The last thing he remembered was the back of his head hitting the concrete, and his mother screaming his name.

* * *

Two hours. It had been two hours since he awoke in his mother's car, and was helped in to the house. It had been an hour since his father got home, and the two talked. They talked, somewhat argued, and the subject of it was him. Particularly his 'ailment'. How did he know how long they had been discussing him? Without use of one of his hands, he could not play - or barely play at least, because he had tried - video games; his head was pounding far too much for his music, so he was left with only one thing to do. Watch his clock.

Blood pressure medication. Anti-depressants. Adderall or Ritalin… Really dad? He was already going to be on pain killers for his arm. No more pills…

Two normal parents and he was the one to get the insane super-strength that liked to turn on and off whenever it liked… Or, when he was scared for his life.

He jumped slightly at a light knocking on his door, but immediately tried to calm himself down, "Come in…" The door opened and he was surprised to see neither his mother nor his father, but it was his best friend – not to mention one of his only friends -, Darren Carter.

"So… You enjoy that trip you took in the fall?" He asked, a small smirk tugging at his lips while amusement danced in his eyes.

Seth sat up, "Hardy har har… You're a riot – Ah! Fuc – Mm!" He quickly bit his lip before he said something his parents would make him regret. He glared half-heartedly at his friend, who had just lightly socked him on his injured arm.

"Lighten up," He said, plopping down on his small couch on the other side of Seth's room, "I came by to drop off that school work of yours…" He tossed a neatly stacked pile of papers on to Seth's bed, scattering them.

"Okay…" He eyed the papers, "But how did you get them?" He knew very well his friend didn't go to his school – or any school for that – matter.

Darren shrugged, "Some kid in a soccer uniform gave it to me, said he knew that we hung out and gave me the papers to give to you… I can't remember his name; he had a French accent though."

"Oh… Pierre Vastia, he has a lot of classes with me, star soccer player…" Seth replied, shifting through the papers. He shuddered slightly and rubbed his hands together, "Dammit, whenever you're over here, the temperature drops. Do you have a ghost following you or something?"

Darren deadpanned, glancing over at him, "You really believe ghosts exists."

It was Seth's turn to deadpan, "Superman has the power of a god compared to normal human beings. It has been proved to the entire world that multiple universes exists, there's the Deadman who is a _ghost_ hero, the Flash can move so fast he can travel through time, Atlantis is _Real, _and there are all of these heroes with some kind of amazing, mind-blowing power and so many things that are outrageous, but real. Do you really believe that ghosts do not exist?"

"... Touche..." Darren just nodded, and then glanced around, "So… You think you can still play games or what? You, me, Street Fighter? I've been practicing with Akuma and I _will _kick your ass this time."

Seth chuckled to himself, "That's adorable… You kick my ass…" He grabbed one of the controllers and tossed the second one to his friend, "Bring it on."

* * *

"Bye, Mrs. McKinnion, Mr. McKinnion," Darren waved goodbye to his friends parents as he moved down the stairs to their front door two at a time before finally jumping down.

"Thanks for visiting, Darren, come by anytime," Mrs. McKinnion replied with a sweet smile. Darren stated that he would, and gave them one last wave before they finally closed the front door. He turned his focus to the street ahead of him. The deserted street, save for the few cars parked on both sides.

He whistled to himself. He brought out his phone, texting his mother that he would be home soon. He stopped walking to do so, and it was then that he noticed another set of footsteps.

Seth would've yelled for him to stop. Any innocent bystander probably would've kept walking to avoid suspicion. This person stopped.

He started walking, and he waited. He counted off in his head, waiting for the right time, and then he stopped. His follower made a mistake. They must've figured out what he was doing and they started after him before he could run. He ran as quickly as his legs would allow him.

He felt a sudden pain between his shoulder blades, and the impact sent him to his knees. His momentum sent him skidding across the ground and rolling in to a shallow puddle, "Ah!" He hissed in pain. His follower was closing in. He scrambled, scattering gravel, slipping on it as well.

Darren was nearly to his feet, but he was suddenly pulled back by his hood. His collar tightened around his throat, only briefly, his hood ripping just as he was thrown on to his butt. He glared up at his attacker; he made a move to get up and opened his mouth to speak. He froze feeling cold steel against his jugular.

"Do not move, don't you freaking move, hear me?" His mugger hissed. He was mostly covered by a black hoodie, and the lower half of his face was hidden by a red bandana. But Darren could still see his eyes, his bloodshot, crazed eyes, "Give me your money!"

Darren only lowered himself to sit on the ground, having been holding his body up.

"Give me your money, kid! I'll freaking cut you!" He pressed the knife harder against Darren's throat. He drew blood.

He was solely focused on Darren. He never saw the young man's fists ball in to fists and the white smoke rise off of his skin. He made a noise as if he were going to say something, but he abruptly stopped. He looked at the blood.

Darren's blue blood. It spread across a small portion of the blade and his blade began to freeze over, frost spreading father across it. He pulled his blade away from Darren's neck, but Darren caught his wrist.

"Sorry about this…" Darren stated, tightening his grip on his attacker's wrist. The mugger thrashed about, trying to wrench his arm free but Darren wasn't letting that happen. He gasped, his eyes widened in fright seeing ice beginning to spread of Darren's hand in random patches and across his sleeve. Darren broke knife blade in half, most of it having frozen over.

"L – let me go, Freak!" He swung with his free arm, but Darren caught that as well. The young man blocked his attacker's kicks, the futile attempts to shake him, with his own legs. Ice slowly crept along both of his mugger's sleeves.

"Be thankful it's just your jacket that's icing over," Darren stated. He pulled his mugger towards, and swung his head forward, making solid contact with his mugger's covered nose with a loud crack. Darren held his attacker's arms while he fell limply to his knees. His head slumped. He was unconscious.

Darren sighed and pulled the man off to the side of the road, setting him in a place where hopefully no looters or other desperate thieves would find him. He jogged away from the scene, keeping his hands shoved deep within his pockets so that people wouldn't see his hands.

He inhaled through his nose, and exhaled a white cloud, _'Calm down… It's over…' _He exhaled again. He brought his hand up to his neck, and brought it away. His blood began to ice over on his fingers, but he brushed it off as if it were dust. He placed his hand over the wound again.

He brought it away and it was frozen over, "My mom isn't gonna like this…" He sighed, running a hand through his black hair.

* * *

**Author's Notes…**

And this was the second chapter. We have a good amount of stuff going on. We also introduced one new character and mentioned another. It's not the longest chapter in the world, but I think I did well enough with it. My chapters will never be shorter than 2000, I can assure you that much.

N-ice guy, Darren Carter (Lame pun totally intended) Keep reading to see him, Seth and more characters as this story unfolds.

I want to say it again for good measure, while I am **Not **accepting for the team anymore, I am willing to accept a few more Vigilante characters, minor Villains, and the loner heroes. So, you still have an opportunity to have a character in the story.

**Drop a review if you like the story. Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes… **

Thank you to everyone who sent in an OC for this story. I officially have reached my limit for Heroes and **Loner Heroes / Vigilantes **for my fic, but submissions will still be open for a short time for a couple **Minor Villains. **This will most likely be the last opportunity for you to have a character in this fic.

A big thank you to all of you viewers, reviewers out there, and everyone who has sent in an OC up to now. I am incredibly happy with all of the positive feedback. This also inspires me, which means more development for the chapters! Yes, yes, all good things today.

**I've wasted enough time, enjoy chapter 3**.

* * *

**November 13th**

An icy blue sedan pulled in to a concrete driveway. A woman in her mid-40s stepped out, Darren followed suit, exiting the passenger side. They were both laughing as they walked around to the trunk

"Oh – Hahaha! – Oh my! Please, no more!" His mother tried to talk between fits of giggles. Darren helped her take groceries from the trunk.

"I got more where that came from," He said with a grin, "Ever hear the one about Captain Cold taking a sick day?"

"Hehehe – oh, ahem – Not now, I won't get anything done if I keep laughing so much," She said with a motherly smile. Darren laughingly agreed with her. He jogged up at the stairs and opened the door for her. His mother stopped, "Oh, I almost forgot something."

Darren opened his mouth to say something, but out of the corner of his eye caught sight of a hooded figure walking down the street, "Mom…" He set his items inside the house off to the side, "I'll get it," His mother turned to him to say otherwise, he knew it was coming, but he stopped her, "It's okay. I can get it, you know where the stuff goes anyway. I'll get it."

"Oh, all right then, if you insist," Darren passed by his mother with a nod. He kept his eyes on the hooded person as they walked by. He let out a sigh of relief seeing that they didn't mean him or his mother harm. It was just a normal person passing by.

'_Living in this city has me on edge…' _He thought to himself, running a hand through his hair. He glanced up at the house he and his mother were living in while he got the last bit of the groceries, _'All because of me… Sorry mom… Dad…' _

"Darren!"

He jumped lightly, "What's taking so long, slow poke? The quicker you're in, the quicker I can start dinner!" How long had he been standing out there? He looked down at his hands feeling a slight chill and he noticed frost.

"Sorry about that! I'll be in in a second!" He quickly rubbed his hands together, trying to rid himself of the frost. He jogged inside with the last of the groceries, giving the outside one last glance before he shut the front door behind him.

"Darren, the freezer is broken again," His mother said with a sheepish smile, "Would you mind, dear?"

He chuckled, "Not at all."

He stepped in front of their refrigerator and rubbed his hands together until white mist poured out from between his palms. He placed his hands inside. In an instant white mist was pouring from their freezer and the inside was covered from wall to wall with ice.

"I'll call someone to see what they can do to fix tomorrow," His mother said with a slight sigh. She kissed her son's cheek, "Thank you, that'll be all until dinner is ready."

"Are you sure you don't need any help, mom?" He asked her.

"No, now go on, shoo!" She said playfully, laughing as she shooed him away. He smiled and laughed along with her. His expression was a happy one, but his eyes did not convey the same feeling. He looked at the dark marks under his mother's eyes. Her body language said she was tired, he could hear it in her voice as well. He glanced around at his home. It was lackluster, not that he cared, but things could've been better.

'_All because of me…' _He walked away, shaking his head to himself, "Dammit…" He murmured.

* * *

He couldn't breathe, his throat felt as though it had closed up. He could feel his heart beating against his chest, and he wouldn't be surprised if they could hear it as well. Seth stood rooted to the ground with a knife against his throat, facing down three local thugs he had seen many times in the past, having a few run ins with them as well. He always went home with some new injury…

"Come on, dumbass," the leader goaded, "Wallet and everything else that's worth something and we won't hurt you to bad." Seth glanced down at the steel blade a hairsbreadth from his neck. He gulped, and he wanted to cringe feeling his adam's apple graze the blade. He glanced between his two lackeys, one holding a tire iron and the other a metal bat.

"Come on then, I got other people to rob today!" the leader snapped. Seth tensed up, and bit back a cry of pain feeling one of lackeys tap the tire iron against his arm. It wasn't a hard tap at all, but it still hurt with his arm like it was.

His heart was pounding in his ears.

He reached in to his pockets and handed the thug his wallet, ipod and the man snatched his sunglasses as well.

"Thanks," The lead thug snapped the blade shut. He nodded to his lackeys. The one wielding the back took a step forward and thrust the head of the bat in to Seth's stomach. His knees buckled. He doubled over coughing violently. The other lackey brought the bend of the tire iron down on his back.

"AH!" Seth cried out in pain. The leader chuckled, and his lackeys joined in. The leader pressed his foot against Seth's head and pushed him over on to his side.

They started on their way, turning away from the downed teenager.

Seth didn't clutch his arm, his head or his stomach. He clutched at his chest. He shakily rose up and was on his knees again with his forehead against the ground.

'_I can't… I can't… breath…' _He lifted his head and stared at the retreating forms of his attackers. He glanced at a rock near him, one that was a decent size. He picked it up…

"AAH!" The thug wielding the tire iron was sent to the ground, howling in pain while he clutched his right knee. He rolled around in his pain. They turned around to see Seth standing up and stalking towards them.

"Get'em!" the lead thug commanded. The one wielding the bat gripped it both hands and ran at Seth. He swung. Seth caught the bat, resounding with a loud smack as metal met skin. Seth tightened his grip on the bat, more and more until it started to bend underneath his fingers. The thug tried to wrench it away, but to no avail. He finally decided to punch Seth in the face.

The young man stumbled back, but kept a told hold on the bat. He raised it up for both of them to see. His grip tightened until he crumpled that portion of the metal bat. The lackey stumbled back; he fell on his but in fear. The leader on the other hand whipped out his switchblade and charged.

Seth kept an even expression. He lifted his left arm from its sling and swung back, striking the metal dumpster next to him, leaving a large dent.

The lackey hurriedly scurried back, turning around and scrambling to run away. The leader slid to a halt, his confused and afraid, he took several steps back. He was visibly shaking.

"What the… y – you… you're one of those super powered freaks! O – oh man, the town is gonna love this!" He said, still visibly frightened, his eyes glancing between Seth's expressionless face, those wide blood shot eyes, and the dent in the metal dumpster.

Seth held out his hand, "My stuff. Hand it over."

The thug threw them at Seth's feet, "Take it, freak!" And with that he ran off.

"B –boss!" They left a man behind; He reached out for his retreating leader, but received no help, not even a sparring glance. He heard movement. He slowly looked over his shoulder and Seth was looming over him. The thug tried to crawl away, but he saw Seth bend down, and it was then that he covered his face, thinking he would be attacked.

When nothing happened he hesitantly looked past his arm, and there was Seth, collecting his things. He stuffed his dirtied ipod in to his pocket, along with his wallet. He looked forlornly at the sunglasses, both of the lenses cracked.

Seth glanced at the thug on the ground. He flinched back. The teenager sighed, and placed his right hand over his heart. He walked away, swaying from side to side. He left a trail of red droplets that fell from his bloodied left hand.

* * *

"Just what the hell were you thinking?"

"Now it wasn't his fault! He had to for his own safety!"

"They walked away from him; those words came from his mouth! He could've let them be!"

"Oh! Are you saying that you wouldn't fight to get your belongings back? I've seen you do just that!"

Seth sat at his kitchen table, his head in his hand, his left arm back in its sling, his knuckles wrapped in fresh bandages stained with small spots of red. He sat there listening to his parents argue. He hadn't wanted it to happen. He said that many times over the course of the argument with his father. His mother tried to defend his actions, which led to now.

He had arrived home with blood, torn knuckles, barely able to move the fingers of both of his hands. He nearly collapsed walking in to his house. He had little choice but to tell them what had really happened.

"But now the entire town is going to know what he can do!" His father retorted, "You know exactly how Jump City feels about heroes now! Anyone with some strange ability is immediately labeled a pariah and an outcast! We'll we be lucky if they do not try to burn our home to the ground!"

Seth froze. Would people actually do that?

"Those bullies had no idea who Seth was, right, Seth?" His mother asked him.

He raised his head, keeping his eyes on their tiled kitchen floor. He couldn't bear to look either of his parents in the eyes, "Uhm…" His voice was rather soft, "They had my wallet for a couple minutes… I don't know if they looked in it though…"

"You see?" His father shouted. Seth flinched back, "And even if they don't, they know where our house is! We can't afford to move _another_ new place! We can barely afford this now!"

"Calm down, " His mother pleaded, "Just calm down, please."

"How the hell can I be calm at a time like this?! Because of his recklessness, now his life, your life, all of our lives could be at stake! Because he couldn't control himself!" Seth scratched the back of his head, at a loss for words. He glanced up at his father who was leaning against their refrigerator, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Dad, I -"

"Please, don't talk," His father interrupted him, "Unless anything you have to say involves a way to get us out of the mess we could be in now, I don't want to hear another word from you for the rest of the night," And with that he walked away.

"Oh my…" His mother whispered. She turned to him, "Seth… he didn't -"

"I messed up again, didn't I?"

"N – no! Your father, he's just upset! He wants what's best for us, and -"

"And that can't happen…" Seth started to say as he stood up, "If I keep getting scared, denting dumpsters and showing off superhuman strength," He looked down at his mother with a sad smile. She was only a few inches shorter than him, "I really messed up. The only difference now is that no one went to the hospital…"

His mother gave him a sympathetic look. A motherly smile. She wrapped her arms around him in an attempt to comfort her son, "Just give your father time, he'll calm down. In the meantime though, try to keep a low profile."

"Why's that?" Seth asked.

"Heroes tend to make enemies easily, even if they don't mean to," His mother said, ruffling his shaggy brown hair.

_There was that word again. 'Hero'_

_First it was that mechanic, Travis and now it was my mother. I don't think I'd ever get used to that word. I'm no superhero. Superhuman yeah, but a hero? A lazy guy like me? No way…_

_But then again, how many people had superpowers or super abilities that could help people in Jump City? Wonderful… I just gave myself something to think about, fan-freaking-tastic._

* * *

Darren closed the door to his room and plopped down on to his bed. He flipped on his television. He listened to the news of more violence in Jump City, the growing crime rate in the city, the police department's inability to do anything about it, and just how much the public was beginning to hate them. It wasn't even five minutes before he turned it off and resigned himself to his few comic books.

It was a select few, in no true particular order, "Mr. Freeze… Ice… Killer Frost… Polar Boy… Captain Cold… How come you never see any ice themed superheroes?" He asked himself, tossing them haphazardly in to a pile on to his nightstand.

"… No ice themed superheroes…" He dragged out those last few words, the gears of his mind beginning to turn.

* * *

**Author's Notes… **

**I've decided to start replying to reviews via chapters… **

**MysteryAgain **– Thank you :) I'm to hear that because there were parts I had my doubts about.

**Lilysash97 – **I'll take that as a compliment. And there are some good ones out there. Vastly better ones as well.

**Reitzel – chan **– Thanks for getting in to the spirit of puns!

**MarluxiaSasakiDoom **– Why thank you

**ThePerfectReplica **– I'm glad that you're happy with that chapter and the length of future chapters. And as for Seth, hopefully his mystery will unravel in time.

**Vulkodlak – **It is. I have seen quite often. I wanted to do something a bit different with Seth in terms of his power, and I'm happy that it's going over so well.

**Captain Toma – **Thanks, I'm happy the idea is going over well for now.

So, we got in to Seth and Darren's home lives a bit. We see just how what they can do affects their lives at home, and we also see how dangerous Jump city can be these days. Muggers and thieves around every twist and turn. It's been said more times than I remember that superpowers can be a curse as much as they are a blessing.

What will Seth do? Just what is Darren thinking? There really no ice-themed heroes (DC wise) these days.

**Stay tuned **for next chapter. And a couple new characters.


	4. Chapter 4

**Not as much feedback as last chapter, but good feedback nonetheless! I'm back with another chapter, which I hope that you all enjoy**

* * *

**November 15****th**

"Oh no oh no…" A young girl slid to a halt at a fork in the hallways. She looked both ways, unsure of which path to take. She racked her brain to remember which way to take, but when she could not recall she opted for the right hallway. She walked at a steady pace.

"Oh no…" She murmured to herself. Her head swiveled from side to side, looking at each of the doors she passed, making her light brown pigtails sway lightly. Her face scrunched up in confusion. She looked down at the paper in her hands, "My teacher isn't going to like this…"

New to the school, she was still having issues finding her way around. She stopped at another intersection, and took a left this time around. She already knew this wasn't the right way as she neared the end of the hallway. She may not have known her way around just yet, but she knew that she was at the double doors leading to the gymnasium.

She jumped lightly hearing something smack against the wall. And again, and again. Then what sounded like grunting reached her ears. Against what she thought was her better judgment, she decided to peak her head in and take a look. She took slow steps towards the door while she rubbed her wrist nervously.

She stuck her head in the door.

"Eep!"

She immediately jumped back with a yelp, falling on to her knees and she covered her head. A loud bang followed an impact on the other side of the door.

"Mademoiselle!" She jumped once more, her eyes, wide with fright, turned up and it was then she looked up in to the worried eyes of a young man. He was dressed as if he was going to play soccer for a team; she recognized the colors of his shirt as their school colors.

"Oh my, are you okay? I did not mean to frighten you," He spoke with a French accent, kneeling in front of her. He gently took both of her hands, "Please, mademoiselle, let me help you up."

She slowly nodded, still processing what had happened and what was going on. He helped her to her feet, and she dusted herself off.

"I am very sorry," He said, scratching the back of his head, "I was practicing and I hadn't expected anyone to walk in… I … I apologize, I hadn't meant to do that."

The girl slowly nodded her head, still at a loss for words. She remembered poking her head in to the gymnasium to take a look, thinking something was going on, only to see a soccer ball flying at her face at breakneck speeds. The next thing she knew she heard a yelp – which she highly believed was from her - and she ducked to keep from being hurt too badly. Then he was helping her…

"Oh!" The young man suddenly gasped, "I have forgotten my manners! I apologize again, mademoiselle. My name is Pierre Vastia!" He gently took her left in his and kissed the top of it. He looked up to see her eyes widen, red rush to her pale cheeks. He smirked, he chuckled to himself before asking, "Would you allow me the privilege of knowing your name?"

She was at a loss for words, her mouth opened and closed similar to a gaping fish. She took her hand away quickly and finally found her voice once she had, "A - april Jones!" He voice was rather high pitched, a veritable squeak.

"April Jones?" He repeated back, "Hmm… A little plain… Especially for one so beautiful," He flashed a bright smile. Her blush only deepened. She pulled her light blue jacket a little more tightly around herself.

Pierre laughed, "Sorry about that, I just can't help myself around cute girls!" April's blush deepened to the point that he could practically feel the heat coming off of her skin. She looked down, fidgeted in place. April pushed her index fingertips together, stuttering as she tried to ask a question.

"W-well… Uhm – I – I – I… Uhm…" Her eyes shut. Steam was practically pouring out of her ears, "C – c – can you h – help… H – help m – m – me… w – with…" She slowly and shakily held out the papers in her hands to him.

"Calm down, mon cher… How you Americans say?" He scratched his chin in thought, "Chill out…?"

Her hands, and the paper, were visibly shaking in front of him, "C – c – could you h – help me w – with th – these directions!" April's voice grew gradually higher and higher as she tried to speak. Pierre chuckled, finding her embarrassment amusing. He took a look at the papers for himself.

"You are not too far off," He stated with a kind smile, "You went through two of those forks on your way here, yes?" April slowly nodded and he continued, "At the first one you should've taken a left and the room you're looking for is the third on your right… Or fourth, you should make sure!"

April nodded once more, taking a few tentative steps back, "Th – thank you!" She squeaked. A moment later she turned on her heels and briskly walked away.

Pierre waved, "Jusqu'à ce que nous nous reverrons, mon cher!" He called after her, waving. He suddenly slapped his forehead, "Oh my, until next time, mon cher! Sorry!" He called a little louder.

* * *

**-Later-**

"Arken Drake?"

"Present."

"Colette Dupree?"

"Here."

"Jaime Estavez?"

"Present."

"Jonathan Jones?"

"Here."

"April Jones?"

"Here." The voice was rather quiet.

The teacher looked up from her clipboard, the light bouncing off of the lenses of her glasses. She looked around the room, as did the rest of the class, "What was that? April Jones, are you present?" She asked the classroom a bit more sternly.

A shaking hand rose slowly, "Yes. I'm right here." The voice was still rather quiet. The class honed in on the girl raising her hand, and she sank more in to her seat.

The teacher adjusted her glasses, "Ms. Jones, speak more clearly from now on. This is the third time this week since you've transferred, I'll be lenient now, but start being more assertive otherwise you'll be counted as absent, am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am," April replied loudly enough for the teacher to hear her. She straightened up in her seat, her eyes downcast at her hands in her lap.

The teacher adjusted her glasses yet again, "Also, I want to speak to you after class." A harsh shout of 'quiet down' silenced the murmurs, whispers and chuckles that broke out amongst the freshman class. After her brief pause to address April, she continued with taking attendance.

"It seems mister Thorton chose to skip out on class again today… Pity. We'll be carrying on with today's lesson nonetheless."

She turned to the blackboard, "Open your textbooks to page fifty and we will begin…"

* * *

"Okay, so I'll meet you in front of the school to make sure you learn your way around, all right?" April had been "buddied" with a sophomore by her history teacher. Helen Walker, the girl was easily taller than her; she fidgeted under the older girl's stare. Those green eyes, her eyes seemed larger than normal which only worsened her nervousness. She tugged at the hem of her light purple skirt.

"Uhm… Yeah…" She replied rather quietly.

"Eh?" Helen leaned down, "Speak up!" She demanded.

"Okay!" April squeaked, taking a step back.

Helen stood up to full height, folding her arms under her chest, "This school has seminars on the weekend to help students build confidence and all of that stuff, you should really think about signing up."

April nodded her head, averting her gaze to the floor, finding a crack she spotted rather interesting, "All right…"

The sophomore girl shook her head to herself, _'Poor girl… This place'll eat her up if she doesn't toughen up…' _She glanced over hearing a ruckus nearby, _'And fast.' _

"Stay here, all right, we still have to talk," She told April who nodded; she could see that the timid girl was also looking toward the noise. Helen made her way over to the group of students and gently pushed them aside. She got to the front of the crowd, which was gathered around four people, three of them pushing around the fourth between them. She knew all four of them…

"Three guys… Picking on one… who has a messed up arm… Seems fair..!" Seth was finally pushed against the lockers with a bang. He took a step forward, but stopped when a fist came to a halt in front of his face. Strands of his bangs sticking out from underneath his beanie shifted slightly.

Seth yawned.

"Really? Group bully tactics… How fun…" The young man murmured, leaning back on the lockers.

The leader of the trio stepped forward. Known school bully, Russell Thrush. He leaned down to be face to face with Seth, "Don't think I've forgotten about you getting me busted. I lost out on a damn good deal because of you…" He grabbed Seth by the front of his shirt, "Do you know what I do to people… When they decide to be a rat?"

"You make them go through this awful reenactment of every group bully scene ever made in movies?" Seth asked. The crowd chuckled at his joke, but they were quickly and effectively silenced by Russell's goons, Terry and Shaw.

Russell chuckled, looking around at the crowd and shaking his head. His chuckling grew louder and louder still, until it became full blown laughter. His two goons laughed as well, they even threatened the crowd in to joining in, laughing along awkwardly.

Suddenly the blond haired bully slammed his fist against the locker mere inches from Seth's head. The crowd jumped, Seth jumped as well. The young man's eyes shut, and he sucked in air. His useable left hand balled in to a fist.

Russell took his fist away from the sizable dent he left in the metal locker, showing no signs of being in pain.

"No…" Russell snarled. He picked Seth higher up by the front of his shirt until his feet no longer touched the floor, "I beat the living hell out of them, until they're red, black and blue all over."

"Russell…" Seth breathed out, "Do not… do it… It won't end well."

"Of course not, for you," Russell said with a smirk, drawing his fist back.

"No… For you!" Seth snapped.

Russell threw his punch. Seth's eyes widened immensely.

No impact. The crowd gasped, not because of what was going to happen, but at what had. Russell's arm had been caught at the wrist by Helen. Glares honed in on her from Russell and his two goons. Helen didn't even bat an eye, her grip tightened and she gradually pulled his fist away.

"That's enough of that," Helen stated forcefully, "Unless you big, strong fellows don't mind picking on someone who is handicapped _and _a girl, two on three, then I suggest you back off."

Russell glared down at Helen, easily a foot taller. He wrenched his arm away, he dropped Seth who slid down the lockers on to his butt, and stepped back until both Terry and Shaw were at his sides, "Bug-Eye's Helen… Seth, you have a bug-loving freak like her fighting your battles for you… That's pretty pathetic."

Russell and his two followers walked away, the crowd parting for them.

"Seth…"

His heart was beating in his ears. He slowly tried to pick himself up off of the ground, but his legs wobbled underneath him, _Damn... I cannot catch a freaking break lately... Does everyone want me to lose it?!' _He thought.

"Seth!" He jumped, snapped from his thoughts. His head whipped around, looking up to see Helen looking down at him.

"You all right there, or what?" She asked, grabbing the shoulder of his uninjured arm and lifting him to his feet.

He swayed a bit, but caught himself on the lockers, "Yeah… Yeah I'm fine. No harm done," Seth replied, dusting himself off. He glanced around at the crowd, who were starting to disperse. They were murmuring and whispering amongst themselves. He already figured that some rumor would be started later today, and he would be hearing about it by tomorrow. Hurray…

"You need to think about taking some confidence courses too," Helen stated.

"Huh? … Oh … Oh, yeah okay…" Seth replied quietly, as if barely listening.

"See ya around then, don't get beat up… Or any more broken than you are now," She said with a light smirk before turning on her heels and walking back to her charge, who was still standing where she had left her.

"Does that happen often?" April asked, looking past Helen. Seth placed his ipod buds in to his ears, and walked away from the scene.

Helen scratched the back of her head, "More often than you would probably like… Never mind about talking now, I'll tell you what you need to know tomorrow."

April nodded, "Oh – Okay… Bye."

"See ya."

* * *

**The End**

Mademoiselle translates to **Miss**

Jusqu'à ce que nous nous reverrons, mon cher! Translates to **Until we meet again, my dear**

Mon cher translates to **My dear**

**Author's Notes… **

**First, **A big thank you to **MysteryAgain **for miss April Jones and **Reitzel-chan **for Helen Walker. Other characters were introduced as well, but… I want it to be a surprise for when they really show up. A big thank you to the creators though! You know who you are…

**Second, **OC submissions are officially closed until such time as I want to open them again.

**And Third, **Check out **Hidden **by **GrassBlade-chan** if you have not already, it is a Teen Titan's fic and she is looking for a lot of characters.

**That'll be all. Until next time everyone.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Beginning Author's Notes...  
**

More great reception from last chapter. Glad you guys are enjoying my fic, and like my writing style on top of that, which is great because I'm still trying to find my style of writing. Doubly awesome.

Mmm… I don't think I have anything else to say. Enjoy!

* * *

**November 17th  
**

_Shit. Shit. Shit!_

"He went this way!"

"You can't run away from me forever!"

_Wanna bet?_

Seth quickly ducked in to an alleyway, pressing his back against the brick wall behind him, practically trying to become one with it. He wished at that time he could have. That he could melded with the wall and disappeared, at least then if Russell found out it was him, then he would hurt his fist trying to break him…

Until he got a weapon of some kind.

Seth cursed in his mind. He peered around the corner and his eyes widened. His pursuer Russell came to a halt at the end of the sidewalk, Terry and Shaw weren't far behind. Seth pulled his head back as to avoid being seen. He gently hit his head against the brick wall, unsure of what to do now. He glanced down the alleyway he was trapped in. It was dark, but an obvious hiding place. And it was a dead end.

_Damn it all… Why can't people just leave me alone? _He thought, grimacing at the thought of his fate. He heard Russell shout at his goons, and his heart skipped a beat. Then it picked up again, beating faster and faster against his ribcage. He clutched at his chest.

His vision began to blur.

_No … No … There is no way I can do that … Damn it all, Russell, stay away from me! Pick today to find your freaking heart, and leave me be!_

"Check the alley."

Seth struck his head against the brick wall yet again. What was he to do? He could easily accept his fate, but what would his mother say? She would want to move them at any cost to keep him safe, and that certainly wouldn't help him in any way to mend the currently strained relationship he had with his father. They were barely on speaking terms again…

He could fight. That was an option.

He looked down at his right hand, the only one he could use at the moment. His shaking right hand. He balled it in to a fist.

Fighting wasn't an option. He could hear the footsteps coming closer. He gulped painfully. What could he do?

He felt a hand on his shoulder, but not the one near the entrance to the alleyway, on his left. He looked over to his right.

* * *

"He came through here…" Russell murmured, taking a step in to the darkened alleyway while Terry and Shaw stayed at the entrance. The bully wretched, he pinched his nose shut, "Ugh! Smells like shit! … But it's pretty fitting for that coward, McKinnion!" He and his goons laughed at the poor excuse of a joke. Russell drew his leg back and kicked one of the trash cans, sending it flying through the air, spilling its rancid contents across most of the alleyway.

"Come out! Come out and take your beating like a man, McKinnion!" Russell shouted, "If you come out within the next ten seconds, I'll be the only one to beat you up! Eh, it's a pretty generous offer!" He received no response. Russell growled in annoyance.

"Come on, Russ, we can always get him at school," Shaw stated, scratching his stubbly chin.

"Yeah, this place looks sketchy as hell... Let's go," Terry added.

Russell lashed out in his anger, his fist striking the brick wall and breaking off several rather big chunks, "COME OUT!"

This time the darkness shifted. Both Terry and Shaw took a step back, surprised by the sudden movement, but Russell stood firm, glaring at the figure wrapped in tattered, filthy clothing. They were slightly shorter than him, hunched over. Their face was shadowed heavily by their own coarse shiny black hair and the black scarf around their neck. Their entire body was hidden by a long black coat, the sleeves extended past their hands, and baggy pants covered their feet.

"Messing… with… home," They stated monotonously. By the voice, they sounded female.

Russell leaned down with a wicked smirk stretched across his face, "And? Are you gonna do something, trash?" He drew his fist back, with only shallow cuts and reddened patches of skin to show for damage.

"Leave," The homeless looking woman stated.

Russell slammed his fist against the brick wall yet again, this time taking out a large chunk. It fell to the ground between them, "Or what?" Russell replied to her order. He spit on the ground at her feet, "You know what? Have you seen a kid with his arm in a sling, brown hair to his chin? Any of this ringing a bell?" Russell knocked his knuckles against the woman's head as if knocking on a door.

"Eh?"

The woman lifted her head, though her features still remained hidden within the shadows. It was a fast movement. One fast movement. There was no light to reflect off of the steel. He hadn't seen it coming. In a split second, Russell felt something cold, and then against his neck. His eye slowly traveled downward, and there it was. A hunting knife. The cutting edge pressed ever so gently to his neck, not enough to cut, but enough that he felt that tingling sensation, right where it was.

"Leave," She demanded in her same even tone, not a hint of emotion in the way she spoke.

Russell's eye narrowed dangerously.

"Russ, come on man, this chick is psycho!" Terry urged.

"We'll find where that Seth kid lives, unless we get him at school," Shaw added, "C'mon."

The blond haired bully glared down at the homeless woman, who stood resolute with her blade to his neck. He finally took a step back. He spit at her feet, "Avoid me, and run when you see me. That's the only warning I'll ever give you," And with that he turned and walked away, shoving his hands in to his pockets.

The woman slowly lowered her knife and hid it within her jacket. She watched the trio of thugs walk away until they turned a corner and were out of her sights. As well as earshot. She turned to her alleyway.

"Gone."

Seth stepped out from behind trashcans and clothes. He ran a hand through his hair, "What a psychopath… Hey, I'm really sorry that you went through that," Seth apologized, walking up to the woman. He scratched the back of his head, a small smile on his face.

"Thanks though, you saved me."

The woman merely nodded her head in response.

There was an awkward silence. Seth reached up to scratch his nose, then he caught a whiff of himself, "Uhh… I reek…" He murmured, and then he realized that she was still standing there, "Oh! No offense… Sorry… Uhm…" He looked away sheepishly.

"…Leave," she replied in a rather gruff tone.

"W – what?" He was rather shocked by the sudden change of tone.

"Leave…" The homeless woman practically growled, "My home… My home… You … Leave!"

Seth took a couple steps back, but he only went further in to the alleyway. She reached out rather fast, grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him out of her alleyway. He stumbled; he waved his good arm wildly to keep himself on his feet. Seth fell to his knees in the street.

"Agh!"

The homeless woman went about picking up a couple of the fallen trashcans, fixing the dented one as best she could, and 'tidying' up.

Seth got on to his feet, "Uhm…" He scratched the back of his neck, unsure of what to say. It was pretty obvious she wanted him to leave, but he had to do something, she had probably just saved his life.

"W – would you mind… Letting me know your name?" Seth asked hesitantly.

The woman stopped and the young man reeled back. He took a step back, in case he had to run, "Connie…" She replied.

"Oh…" Seth sighed, "Well… If you're here later today, Connie, I'll bring some food for you," He brought out his phone, and his eyes widened seeing the time, "Shit! I promise, I'll come by later! Gotta go!"

* * *

"So, you got it? You're next class in the second hallway to your right, you exit this one, skip the next one and there it is," Helen had been making sure for the past five minutes, before the first classes of the day started, that her charge, April, had the directions to her class. She made sure that the shy girl had them engraved in her memory so that her job as this girl's "chaperone" would be over sooner.

April looked down at the paper in her hands, taking a couple steps back, "Second hallway… right," she murmured quietly.

Helen huffed and grabbed the girl's face, forcibly making her look her in the eyes. April squeaked, red rushing to her cheeks, and slowly the rest of her face, but that didn't stop Helen, "No! No no no," Helen started, shaking April's head for her, "Repeat this back to me: Second hallway on the right. Second hallway on the right."

"Second hallway on the right," April repeated in a rather high-pitched tone.

"Second hallway on the right, let me hear it, Squeaky!" Helen demanded.

"Second hallway on the right!" April spoke up this time, her voice still 'squeaky' as Helen put it. The display garnered a few strange looks from the other students passing by. April's face burned with embarrassment. The moment Helen let go of her face April looked down at her feet, heat coming off of her from her full-faced blush.

Helen sighed, "Again, confidence seminars, kid. Give them some thought."

April merely nodded, unable to find her voice.

The sophomore in charge looked around the now less crowded hallway. She spotted a useful candidate for what she had in mind, "Hey there!" She whistled, "You! Orange haired girl! White blouse… Yes you!"

A young girl walked over to them, a sweet smile on her face, "Yes? Can I help you with something?"

"Are you a freshman?" Helen asked her, getting straight to the point.

"Yes, yes I am!" She replied cheerily, "My name is Colette Dupree; it is really nice to meet you!" Helen almost reeled back. This girl was the exact opposite of April…

Perfect.

A wide smile stretched across Helen's face, "Well, Colette, this is April Jones, a freshman as well, and she is having trouble fi -" The cheery Colette butted in.

"Oh, April! We actually have our next class together!" Colette commented, she grabbed April by her wrist and pulled her along, "The teacher is really nice, and there's even an open seat next to me!"

"O – o – o – kay! C – can you slow down a little?" April whined quietly, still trying to catch up to her fellow freshman. Helen waved after them.

"Have fun!" _'Oh man that was so much easier than I thought it would be! Whoopie! Freedom' _She cheered in her mind. She was so excited about being free from the shy girl she actually pumped her fists in to the air.

Then she noticed a couple of students staring at her, "Eh? You want something?" She snapped quickly, frightening them, "Go to class, maggots!" She demanded, and they speedily ran off.

She puffed out her chest, "Feels good to be a top dog!" She said to herself, starting at a leisurely pace down the hallway, "I think I'll take a break from classes today."

* * *

The roll call had ended and the entire class was in, something their portly teacher was rather glad to see. April and Colette sat beside each other near the middle of the room. when all was said and done, the class quieted down so that they could listen to the morning announcements. The man moved towards the television, but it turned on on its own. A red skull wear an old-fashioned biker helmet with a short spike atop it appeared on the screen. What followed was a deafening scream. It was not high-pitched, no, it was gravelly, rough, like that of a singer from a heavy metal band. A rapid drum beat and guitars accompanied it.

Some students covered their ears to lessen the noise, others bobbed their heads to the beat and the lyrics.

"What is this nonsense!?" The teacher tried to yell over the heavy metal music, "This is a closed circuit system! This is absolutely ridiculo – oooaaaah!" The music took a turn and the portly man fell on his rear. The screen changed to static for a second before the band appeared.

"YEEEEEEEAAAAH!" The singer tossed the microphone away and stepped closer to the camera filming him. His skin was grey; his black hair was styled in to a mohawk, "Yo, Jump City! How's my favorite town been doing since I left?" He asked with a wide grin, "It's been a long time, but something has recently come to my attention: THERE ARE NO MORE HEROES!" He screamed.

"Aagh!" None of the class liked that.

"Oh my…" April murmured, she and Colette glancing at each other.

"Ahahahahaha! Oh man! That must suck huh?" The man asked them, "Well, to commemorate such a happy occasion… Not that I know the date or anything, but who gives a f***, I – Hold on…" He walked off camera, "I heard the goddamn censor! Did you fucking censor me?! Turn it off! WHAT?!"

**BANG! **

The class jumped as a gunshot sounded. The man walked back in to the shot, a smoking gun in hand, "As I was saying… Wow, I really lost my buzz after that… Hit it Fellas!" The band in the background began to play again and the man moved to the music. He was given a new microphone, this one on a stand and he bobbed his head wildly to the music, one hand in the air with his index finger, pinky and thumb extended.

"OOOOHH YYYEAAH!" The man screamed, "Jump City! Johnny Rancid is coming home baby! Me and my boys are taking over in three days, ya hear!?"

And with that it was over.

* * *

Seth stared at the blank television screen, mouth agape. He, and his entire class, was in shock over what had just occurred. Johnny Rancid, once a small time thief in Jump City, had caused some real damage, enough that he was still talked about from time to time. Although it was about his heavy metal group more than his exploits as a villain. It was sad; Seth knew that Johnny Rancid was talked about more than the Titans.

His phone rang. He didn't take in to account that he was in class. He reached in to his pocket, and flipped it open.

"Hello?" Seth answered.

"Seth, dude!" It was Darren, "Did you just see that? That thing with Johnny Rancid?"

"…Yeah," Seth replied.

"Mr. McKinnion! Put that cellphone away!" Seth gave his friend a quiet farewell, still stunned, and shut his phone, ending the call.

Jump City was about to have a real Villain in its midst again in who knows how long. People thought it was because of the Titans that villains flocked to Jump City, which was partly true, but now, without heroes, they were still having trouble.

"L – let's get back to studying then!" The teacher piped up, getting the attention of the class. Most of them anyway.

Seth slowly lowered his head to look at his desk, Johnny Rancid… This was bad. Really bad.

* * *

**Yep. **In addition to your Villains and my Villains, we'll be seeing Villains from Teen Titans.

Russell Thrush. Not the nicest of people. And Connie... I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her :)

Thank you **Vulkodlak**, for Connie.

I like how this chapter turned out, I do. And I hope you all enjoyed it too :) If you like it, Follow it, Favorite it, review it, whatever you'd like to do, and I will be back soon with chapter 6.

Buh bye now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry guys,** I took a bit longer with this chapter than I would've liked, but time just got away from me. It gets dark really early here, and that just throws me off.

But, chapter 6 is done, you're looking at it now :) I hope you guys enjoy.

* * *

**November 17th**

"…Class dismissed," the teacher sighed. It was the last class of the day for both Colette and April. The students murmured amongst themselves while they collected their things, packing them away. Many stood up from their desks, their usual enthusiasm gone. The teacher could see it. She wasn't the nicest, it wasn't her job to be, but she always saw it. Her students would usually be smiling somewhat, getting out of her class…

She adjusted her glasses, "Class, please wait before you leave…" the student at the classroom door stopped just as he was about to turn the knob. All eyes went to her.

"In light of recent events… With the very real threat of this Johnny Rancid…" The name left lips laced with venom, "Please, do not fret over it. Jump City's police force will take care of them." She glanced around the silent room. She could see the students staring at her.

She cleared he throat, "That'll be all, now go home," She said sternly.

"Bye / See you tomorrow, Ms. Irons," a few of the students said as they filed out of the room. The middle-aged woman closed her eyes. She took her seat and waited until the door closed to bring out a couple stacks of papers, beginning her grading of their tests.

"This city is going to hell in a hand basket," She murmured to herself, shaking her head. She remembered when there was constant danger, all of the villainous evildoers, _super_ or not, running around and causing mayhem. Cinderblock, the concrete monstrosity. Control Freak, a couch potato, but a deadly couch potato. Dr. Light, Plasmas…

"Johnny Rancid…" She stopped in the middle of her work, she took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Oh my…" Johnny Rancid was another destructive deviant; she remembered vividly seeing his creation, Wrexzilla, run rampant for a short time until the Titans dealt with it. She was worried for her students.

She remembered all of the villains running rampant in the city, but she also remembered the Titans. They did everything in their power to protect them, and they did a damn good job of it.

"You never truly appreciate what you have until it's gone… And just when we thought we'd be safe."

She jumped slightly at the sound of knocking on her door. She quickly slipped on her glasses and adjusted them, "Come in," She stated. She glanced towards the door and saw that it was two of her colleagues, Darius Porter, a rather portly man who kept himself neat and trim, all except for the stubbly beard he kept, and David Seele, a tall man with a lean frame and spindly limbs.

"Abigail, the teachers are meeting to hopefully come up with some plan if the police are unable to detain Johnny and his _gang_," Mr. Porter stated, loosening his tie.

"I see," She replied, "Well, give me a few minutes and I'll join you," She told them, and David nodded.

"And Abigail…" He started, rolling up his sleeves. She glanced toward him out of the corner of her eye, "Don't be too long."

She nodded, "All right." And with that the two male teachers went on their way. They left the door to swing shut on its own, but Ms. Irons noticed it stop abruptly. She looked up, "Yes? Come in."

The door opened more so, and a young man poked his head, "Ms. Irons?"

"Yes, how can I help you, young man?" She replied.

He smiled at her, "My name is Everard Ashken, I was told to give this to you."

* * *

April placed her things inside of her locker rather quickly. She just wanted to return home as quickly as she could. She took quick, sidelong glances at the students around her, at least the one's she could see. They looked as worried as she was normally, some looked positively frightened, but their friends were trying to comfort them.

Johnny Rancid was bad news, and people knew that. The Police did all they could, but they had all of the other normal, everyday thugs and lowlifes to deal with around Jump City, and even with their numbers crime was still a big problem. They very well couldn't devote their time to Johnny and his thugs and leave the rest to do as they please.

Her eyes shut tightly. Every villain that had terrorized Jump City left their own impressions that the people talk about, Johnny included. She leaned her head against the cold metal of her locker, trying not to think of what would happen if Johnny Rancid and the supposed crew he was bringing with him were left unchecked.

Her hand came up and wrapped around the silver pendant around her neck. Her thumb lightly traveled over the button on the back. It was like she jolted from the touch, her hand jerked away.

'_No! Dad said so… No deactivating it… I want to live a normal life…' _She thought.

April waited until there were a few less people in the hallway before she started for the stairs that lead to the ground floor of the school.

"Nice necklace… Looks expensive…" April froze. An older boy, possibly an upperclassman stepped out from around the corner leading to the stairs. His lips were curled in to a crooked smirk. He reached forward and gently grasped the silver pendant around her neck. He leaned down to examine it, and then glanced in to her frightened eyes.

"I'll think I'll take it… You do mind, do you?" His hand tightened around it, and the moment there was a slight tug, she gasped and she dropped whatever she was holding, both of her hands shot up to grab his wrist.

"No!"

The upperclassman's smirk twisted in to a sneer. April tried to pry his fingers from around her pendant, but to no avail.

"Give it up; you don't want to get hurt over some stupid pendant, do you?" He asked, shaking his head at her feeble attempts. He gave a sharp tug but she quickly stepped forward.

"Stop it!" April all but shouted, she tugged at his hand, but gasped when his grip tightened on the pendant, "Stop that, you'll break it!" She was beginning to panic.

His eyes turned fierce, he glared down at her. April quickly looked away from him. Her eyes landed on several students just watching, but they quickly looked away. They seemed scared…

"Hey!~" A sweet voice reached her ears. She would've jumped had the situation not been so bad for her. Colette suddenly appeared with a bright smile on her face. She placed her hand on the upperclassman's hand, "C'mon now, this is my friend. Don't hurt her…"

April watched Colette with wonder and confusion. She was in danger, a lot of people were clearly afraid of this boy, and yet she was talking to him like he was her friend. But judging from the glare that the upperclassman had trained on her, he likely wasn't. A sweet scent wafted in to her nose and she blinked…

She felt… lighter? A calming feeling slowly washed over her.

The upperclassman suddenly let go of her pendant, "Oh… Sorry about that… I don't know what got in to me…" April looked up to see the upperclassman smiling down at her with a look of apology now. He reached up, and she flinched back instinctively, but he merely dusted off her shoulders.

"I shouldn't have been such a jerk… Again, sorry," He gave them a wave over his shoulder as he turned to walk away. Colette waved him. April's jaw dropped slightly.

"B –b –but… He… What?" She cocked her head in confusion. Colette turned to her, still smiling.

"Hey, April!~" She practically sang. Colette flung her arms around the girl, hugging her tightly. She pulled away, still keeping her hands on April's shoulders, "You didn't get hurt, did you?" She asked.

April slowly shook her head. She was still trying to process what had just happened. First that boy wanted to hurt her since she wasn't willing to part with her pendant, and his attitude took a One-Eighty degree turn for the better…?

"That's good!" Colette stated. April took a couple steps back, she bent down to collect her things she had dropped, and Colette helped her.

"T – thank you," April said quietly. She had finally found her voice, now she could ask, "C – Colette…" She gulped quietly, trying to calm her stutter, "Did you… know him? That boy?"

Colette tilted her head for a moment, looking rather confused. Her eyebrows rose, "Oooh! You mean _that _boy!" She stated, nodding her head, "Mmm… I think his name starts with a K… Kevin? Kenny? … Uhm… Oh! You mean if I know him like he's my friend, don't you?"

April slowly nodded. This girl certainly was unique.

Colette shook her head, her burnt orange hair that was drawn back in a loose ponytail waving with her movements, "Nope!"

"But then… How did…" April blinked in confusion. That boy seemed to listen to her so easily, or… His attitude did change when she appeared. How odd…

Colette handed April the last of her things, and the timid girl quietly thanked her, "Uhm… Is this school always l – like this? All these… bad people around?" She had to ask. First it was that Russell boy, and now that upperclassman.

"There are a few bad apples, yeah…" Colette admitted, losing a bit of her perkiness, but it seemed to return as quickly as it had left her, "But don't let them get you down! There are a ton of nice people here too! You know Jonathon from our class? Same last name as yours, that one! He knows a lot of funny jokes; you just want to laugh when you're around him!"

Colette carried on about several other members from their class and others, and April just watched the girl talk and gesticulate with her hands as she did so. She was so cheery. Even after what had happened today with Johnny Rancid's announcement, she was so happy…

"April!" the timid girl nearly jumped out of her skin. She leaned back as Colette leaned toward her.

"Y – yeah?" She replied.

"Do you want to walk home? It's _waaaay _better than walking by yourself!" Colette said with a wide smile.

"Uhm…" April glanced around, "I… I live on the outskirts of town… It would probably be really far out of your way and – Ah!" Colette wasn't having it and grabbed April by her wrist, pulling her along as she descended the stairs.

"I don't mind, really!" the chipper girl replied, "C'mon!"

"A – all right!" April squeaked, her face flushing red.

* * *

"Thanks for coming, have a nice day!" Seth waved over his shoulder at the female cashier who had just taken his money. He stated that he'd be back again. He started at a steady jog, a drink in one hand and in the other was a white bag filled with food. The food he promised to Connie.

"Hope she's still there… This food took a good chunk out of my wallet," Seth murmured to himself. He quickly shook his head vigorously, "Ah man! Why'd I say that? She saved my life…" He let a small smile cross his face, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

He glanced around at the people. Many of them were packed together in small groups on the sidewalks, or they were walking along, talking amongst themselves. He didn't focus too much on what any of them were saying. He didn't like to eavesdrop like that. He was far too focused on getting the food to Connie and what had happened in school today…

'_Johnny Rancid… That dude is trouble if he's anything like what people talked about before the Titan's left…' _He thought. He stopped for a moment to slip on his aviators before getting back on his way. Just because he did not want to listen to what everyone around him had to say, didn't mean he couldn't stop himself from hearing it.

" - Police…"

" - Worthless..."

"Johnny Rancid…"

" - need heroes…"

Seth lowered his head, picking up his pace a bit more, wanting to get away from all of the people. There was that word again. Heroes. His thoughts went back to the day he saved Travis from dying in that explosion. The man called him a hero…

'_What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I so stuck on this?' _Seth thought, _'I'm a high school student who gets bursts of strength in threatening situations. Nothing more… Dammit!' _

_You're a hero today, kid! _

_Hero… Hero… Hero…_

" –eth… Seth!" The brunette nearly jumped out of his skin. A hand grasped his shoulder, and he immediately wrenched free. He whirled around, so quickly that he nearly fell, but they caught him. His heart was racing again. He was breathing rapidly, but he finally saw that it was Darren. His friend was giving him a concerned look.

"Hey! Hey, Seth! It's just me, man. Calm down," Darren shook him lightly, trying to make Seth come to his senses.

Seth took a step back to compose himself. He bent over slightly, panting; trying to catch his breath, and calm his heart that he could have sworn was in his throat.

"Geez, you must have been out of it," Darren commented, "I was calling after you, chasing you for a solid five minutes."

"Y – yeah…" Seth replied, "Out of it… Other things on my mind… Sorry…" He said between breaths. Darren waved it off, telling him it wasn't a problem. While his was recovering from his almost panic attack, he took the bag he was holding and looked inside of it, "Wow… You must be really hungry… Mind sharing this?" His friend asked.

Seth shook his head in the negative, taking the bag away, "It's not for me… It's kind of a long story."

Darren shrugged, "Eh, I've got time. So tell me a story."

The brunette knew his friend well enough. Darren didn't let much get by him…

"All right… I'll tell you on the way, let's go," Darren merely nodded and the two of them started walking. Seth began to tell his friend of what had happened: of him being chased by Russell, and once he ducked in to an alleyway, how a homeless women let him hide and how she threatened Russell with a knife, stopping him from searching further, and discovering his hiding place.

"Damn…'" Darren finally said once the story was over, "You sure this is a good idea, Seth?"

"How do you mean?" Seth replied.

"I don't know… She might follow you around and want more, not to sound mean or nothing… but, it's a possibility… She could turn that knife on you!" Darren said, bumping shoulders with Seth. The brunette stumbled a bit, but he recovered.

"Nah… I don't think so… I mean, yeah I think she was about to chase me away, but she was nice enough to keep Russell from killing me." Seth scratched the back of his head, "I'm sure she's okay…"

Darren shook his head, "You give people too much credit."

"And you don't trust people enough," Seth replied.

"Yeah, well all that trust you have in Connie is gonna get you shanked," Darren said, "Wait and see."

Seth shook his head. Sometimes Darren went a little far. He glanced around and stopped, "Hold on, this is it…" He certainly recognized the chunk of missing brick courtesy of Russell, "Connie! Hey Connie, it's me, Seth… You know… From earlier… You saved me… Put a knife to a guy's throat... Connie?" He called down the alley, but he received no reply.

"Maybe she left," Darren said with a shrug.

"Here…" Both of them jumped, and Seth let out a small yelp. They whirled around, and there was Connie, her head titled up, her face still hidden, "You… back…" She said gruffly, almost in disbelief.

Seth nodded, "Yeah, here. I brought you some food like I said," He held the bag out to her, "It's not exactly healthy but I figured you could -" She snatched the bag from him, opened it and immediately pulled out a burger and devour a good portion of it, "Use… the… energy… Wow, you must be hungry."

Connie nodded vigorously, "Yeah…" She finished the remainder of the burger, and she squatted down, setting the bag of food on the ground. Seth set a drink next to it.

"It's all yours, so… Enjoy!" He said, at a loss for words.

"Thank you…"

"No problem…" Seth glanced at Darren, who shrugged, "Uhm… Connie…" Seth squatted to be eye level with her, "If you don't mind me asking… Why did you save me? You could've just let Russell kick my ass, so… Yeah."

Connie stopped, she looked up from the fries in her hand, "You… smelled… good."

Darren snickered and Seth quickly elbowed the side of his friend's knee. He hopped away, holding that same spot. His cheeks reddened, Seth scratched the back of his neck, "Uhm… Thanks, but… that doesn't make any sense, Connie."

Connie shook her head, and pointed to Seth, "You… Smelled… like good… person," She sounded as if she were struggling to speak.

"I… smelled like a good person…?" Seth repeated quietly, confused as to just what she meant by that. He glanced back at Darren, who yet again shrugged his shoulders, being very little help to him. He looked back at Connie, "Oh… All right, Connie. We have to go now… but, maybe I'll see you around," He said with a kind smile.

Connie continued to eat. He stood up and turned to Darren.

"Let's go…" Darren nodded his head.

"Seth…" The brunette stopped, "Thank you."

He turned to the homeless woman, "Yeah… No problem."

* * *

**And** that's all for now. I'll be back again with a new chapter. The setting is going to change, more characters will be introduced, so be ready.

Thank you, **Captain Toma**, for Everard.

Goodbye, and good luck to you all. Until next time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry! **Yet again the time got away from me, so sorry for the delay on the chapter. I do try not to go over a week… but, yeah, go back to the beginning of this apology, hehe.

Also, it's kind of funny that everyone thought last chapter was short, when it actually was the longest chapter so far at 3,000 words. Odd how that works out

**So, **as I said last chapter: New Location, New Characters Exciting… Eh, maybe not…

**Anyway**, I hope you enjoy.

* * *

**November 18****th**

The teacher at the head of the class went about writing on the chalkboard, the chalk tapping against the hard surface. The students watched closely as the algebraic problems were written out, going about figuring each of the problems in their minds to shorten their work. There was little other noise except for the whispering, students' pencils tapping against their desks, and the soft breathing of the sleepers.

Whatever was being talked about behind the teacher's back was normally random. Events of previous days, afterschool activities and the like, but now there was a single subject that was on everyone's mind…

"What are we going to do?..."

"My parents said that we're 'going on vacation' until Rancid is locked up… I've got football practice, man!"

"Johnny Rancid..."

"Rancid…"

"Trouble…"

The teacher finally stopped writing, and that seemed to silence the class. They glanced towards the man, who kept his back to them. He turned to them and cleared his throat, "Everyone take the next thirty minutes to solve these problems, and then…" He paused for a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose, "We'll… Uhm… Start today's quiz… yes, that's it." He sighed as quietly as he could, taking his seat at his desk at the front of the room.

A pair of dark grey eyes fell upon the date as she wrote it down.

_November 18__th_

'_Two days left…' _She twirled a strand of her black, curly gently around her finger. She glanced to the teacher, he looked so tired. He looked preoccupied with papers in front of him, so she took that as her chance. She quickly glanced down as she brought her phone out of the pocket of her uniform blazer enough so to see the screen.

She had three missed calls.

'_With what's coming, it's probably him… Okay…' _She let a short exhale and started on the work assigned to her.

* * *

"Aww, are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

"C'mon! It'll be way better than hanging around school!"

Ariana chuckled sheepishly. Her friends were quite persistent in their attempts to get her to come to the movies. AS much as she wanted to, she had other things to do. She shook her head, "Sorry, still no," Her two friends were saddened by this, "There are a few people I need to talk to… We'll meet up later, kay?"

One of them sighed, "All right, but you're missing out," The other nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure, later Penny, Blake," She waved to her friends as they walked away. They left the room, leaving her with the select few that chose to stick around for reason or another instead of going back to their dorms. She took in a deep breath of fresh air when one of the students opened a window, and sighed. A smile spread across her face. Everything was going to be all right, she knew it…

She started for the door when a student she was passing nearly fell. She moved quickly, and she managed to catch him. He grabbed her arm rather tightly, and it didn't seem like it was for support. His head snapped up, and he looked up at her with wide, almost frightened eyes. He braced himself, and stood on his own when he quickly stepped back.

Ariana raised her hands quickly trying to show that she didn't mean him any harm, "Calm down! It's me Freddy, Ariana…" That didn't seem to calm him down any. He was a pale skinned young man with average length black hair, swept to the side in to a fringe that covered one of his eyes.

"Ariana…" He spoke quietly. His eyes glanced around, "You… Class president… Righr… Right, Ariana Masters," He spoke more to himself than to her.

"Yeah…" Was all she could think to say at the moment, "Are you all right? You fell over…" Freddy quickly nodded without a word. His shoulders slumped, and he seemed antsy. He scratched his cheek and glanced rapidly around the room.

"Freddy?" Ariana asked.

"Coffee…" He murmured. He grabbed his satchel, and haphazardly slung it over his shoulder, nearly hitting a unaware student behind him, "I just need more coffee… Coffee…" He repeated 'Coffee' twice more. Ariana reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, but he quickly jerked away and started at a very brisk pace out the door.

"… What a strange guy," she murmured to herself.

"That was Freddy wasn't it?" Ariana jumped slightly feeling something tap against her ankle. She looked over her shoulder, and a smile spread across her face.

"Annie!" Ariana exclaimed happily. The girl, Ariana's age with shoulder length dark brown hair, and black sunglasses covering her eyes, smiled back. Ariana wrapped her arms around her vision impaired friend. Annie, letting out a laugh, hugged her back. It was brief though.

Ariana pulled away, "I'm glad that you're back! How was visiting your uncle? Did you have fun? What kind of things did you do?" A smirk curled on Annie's lips, and Ariana suddenly stopped. She chuckled sheepishly, "I was rambling again wasn't I?" she asked, and her friend answered her with a silent nod, "Sorry about that… So, how was visiting your uncle?"

"Ah, I don't want to bore you with that stuff… So, was that Freddy, the boy you were talking to?" She asked, raising her cane and tapping it against the boy's desk.

Ariana nodded, "Yes… Hey, how did you know? He hardly talks," Annie tapped her nose in response.

"He smells like coffee," She commented, "Everyday it's slightly different, but he always has that distinctive coffee smell… and I remember his voice!" Annie quickly added.

"I think I woke him up… He sure does sleep a lot… Or at least I think he's sleeping?" Ariana mused, scratching her chin in thought. Annie frowned for a brief second before her smile returned.

"That's too bad; his grades won't last if that keeps up… Is there any chance you know which way he was going?" Annie asked. Ariana opened her mouth to speak, but Annie spoke up before her, "Your phone," and just then her cellphone vibrated in her pocket. Annie stilled smiled, and tapped her cane against the ground, "Superhuman hearing! Useful… That's probably important."

Ariana took it out of her pocket, no fear of it being taken since school was over for the day. It certainly was important.

"Yeah… Sorry Annie, but I've got to go."

Her blind friend nodded, "No problem. Later, Ariana."

"Later!" And with that the brunette jogged away. Annie's head tilted down, and she tapped her cane against the floor twice.

"Follow the coffee trail…" She tapped her cane against the floor as she walked.

* * *

Ariana sat a foot or two from the edge of a building, a tall one at that. She didn't want the people to see her and be alarmed, though in times like these… Would they have been? She brought out her cellphone and called the last number to call her, but she hadn't been able to answer before.

She patiently waited, or at least she tried to be patient, finally there was that distinct click, and a male voice came from receiving end, "The Soldier, Civilian, the Martyr, the Victim…"

"The Prophet, the Liar, the Honest," She replied, "The Leader, the Pariah, the Victor, the Messiah. We all have our roles."

"Good, it's you." He replied, his tone noticeably lighter than before, but still serious, "Having to worry about someone hacking a secure line… I swear…" The man sighed, and Ariana smiled sadly, "Well, I assume you already know what we're going to be discussing?"

"It's nice to hear from you too, Chief Briar," Ariana said, going off topic for a moment, "I'm glad that you learned that song so well."

"It says volumes in a few lyrics… It's true in a way," He replied, "There's no avoiding the subject, Ariana, you know that…"

"I do… Johnny Rancid and the crew he is bringing with them… Has there been any word from other precincts?" She asked him

"There has… The have been three incidents in three cities as they make their way towards Bay Bridge… and Jump City," Chief Briar told her. She could hear the shuffling of papers, "It's a mess… I've been working with all of the top dogs I can in order to keep this out of the news."

"Why?" Ariana asked, "Shouldn't the people know about Rancid?"

"Sometimes blissful ignorance is safer than knowing what is to come. If the people knew about Rancid, and the trouble he has caused already then panic has the potential to spread like wildfire, and from panic comes riots and from riots… Well, those are never good…" He cleared his throat before continuing. "For now, we have two days, and I'd rather my officers deal with the crime running rampant now than deal with both that and scared rioters, who can't keep their wits about them," She heard him sigh again, and her smile turned in to a small frown, "The day before Rancid arrives I plan to make some news public, and issue a curfew, that should keep people safe if he manages to break past the officers I'll place on the bridge."

"And he will, won't he… You can feel it?"

The chief was silent. Ariana waited for his reply, but all she heard was his breathing, "Chief?"

"… Yes, I do foresee him getting through, and in to Jump City," He said. Ariana didn't like his tone… He almost sounded defeated. He was police chief; he couldn't afford to be this way…

"Reports from officers who were actually conscious to answer questions…" Ariana winced, "Say that Johnny led a mass of bikers, several of whom surrounded two military style transport vehicles. Big ones…" Chief Briar added gravely, "He's got something big up his sleeves; Hex, two somethings, and I don't like that one bit."

Ariana shook her head, though he couldn't see her. She leaned back the palm of her free hand, and looked up at the clear sky, "Neither do I."

"Johnny's gang spread out across the city to cause mayhem, destroying street lights, cars… There were casualties unfortunately…" He quickly changed the subject, "Johnny's crew spread across the city, and with no clear point of exit to focus on, the police force was spread too far, and too thin to really do anything about… He did this all three cities, and even when they broke down Johnny's plan, there was still nothing they could do…"

"Is there any chance he could arrive before he said he would…? He might try to do that, and then we could be in the same boat. The Jump City police force can't put all their time toward stopping Johnny, while it would be good to get rid of him before he does any damage… That would leave everyone else, all of the people, defenseless against all the other criminals."

"I know… We don't have enough bodies to throw at Johnny, not with the number he has now, and especially if he manages to spread them across Jump City," Chief Briar stated, "But no, at the rate they're travelling, and from the reports I read of where they were at the time of the message, from that point it would be three days to reach Bay Bridge, going around the long way would take much longer."

"He could try for a surprise attack," Ariana said.

"Johnny's smart now, smart enough to command his biker gang through those cities, and have only a small handful be captured, but he isn't smart enough for a surprise attack, that much we know."

Ariana was the one to be silent this time, "Even with your help… Bringing Johnny and his crew down won't be easy, and depending on the kind of hardware he's got hidden in those trucks, that only adds to the difficulty and danger… I almost don't want you to be involved in this, Ariana."

Her eyes widened, and she quickly hopped on to her feet, "Hold on!" She quickly placed her head over her mouth, having shouted a bit loudly. She glanced at the edge of the building and quickly scurried to the center, "We have one thing those cities didn't!" She exclaimed more quietly this time, a smile on her face, "A choke point!"

"… Bay Bridge!" the Chief replied, "I thought of it, but… Still, the numbers may be the same, but the power might be against us, I don't want to risk my officer's lives. Don't forget about the trucks," He said sternly.

"Leave it to me, I'll be there with them and we'll see just what Johnny Rancid has up his sleeves!"

"Ariana, that's a school day, you know it. Your academy is very strict about this sort of thing."

"My mind is made up," and with that she hung up. She looked at the sky with fire in her eyes. She had just hung up on the chief of police, she was definitely going to be paying for that later…

* * *

**Elsewhere...**

"… She hung up on me," The chief said to himself, placing his office phone in its cradle, "That girl… When she sets her mind to something, she doesn't let it go," He smiled to himself and picked up the photo on his desk. He had his wife smiling from ear to ear with Ariana, and their two younger children hanging off of her.

"Jump City is in for a fight… Johnny Rancid better not have made plans for a victory party early."

* * *

Ariana whistled a jolly tune to herself as she walked along. She was given strange looks. People were scared, Johnny Rancid was coming, and yet here was this girl, happy as could be, so much so that she was _whistling_ of all things. She didn't care about the looks. She had a brighter future to look forward to…

'_We can beat him… Even if he does get past the bridge, there are other heroes out there, I can feel them…' _

She stopped, her ears perked up and she looked around. Someone was crying. It sounded like a child… She saw that she was near the park, so she decided to investigate. A quick jog later, and she saw who it was: a young boy.

"Hey there…" She crouched in front of him, and he looked up at her with tear-filled eyes, "What's wrong?"

He sniffled, and he pointed up towards the sky, "My balloon… It went away – Waaaahhh!" The tears came back stronger than ever, "And I can't find my mommy!"

Ariana looked up towards the sky, and then looked down at him with a friendly smile, "… Well, I'm sure she'll be back any minute now, but… What's your favorite color?" she asked him. The boy gave her a confused look, but she urged him on, "C'mon! You must have a color you, really, really like, right?"

He nodded, "Blue."

"Okay, close your eyes and hold out your hand…" The boy slowly nodded and did just as she asked. Ariana pulled a loose string from her sweater and tied it around his wrist. She first glanced around, and seeing as there was no one around, she held it for a moment, she closed her eyes, and the string was slowly pulled taut, "Okay!"

The boy opened his eyes, and he followed the string upward, and what he saw brought a wide smile to his face, "Wow! My balloon!" A blue rubber balloon was at the end of the string, "How did you do that?"

Ariana winked, "It's a secret," She put her finger to her lips, "So don't tell anyone, promise?"

The boy nodded vigorously, "Promise!"

"Aaron!" A woman shouted, "Aaron, sweety, I found you!" A woman ran up to them and embraced the boy, and he through his arms around her in turn.

"Mommy!"

"I thought I told you not to wander off like that, you had me worried sick!" She pulled away for a moment to look him sternly in the eyes, but seeing the tear streaks on his cheeks, she couldn't stay upset forever, not after she had found her son, 'Oh, I'm just glad you're all right?"

"I'm fine, mommy," He said, "This nice girl found me, an -" The boy turned around, but there was no one there, "Huh?"

"Aaron? What nice girl?" Now the mother was worried again.

"She was here… I turned around and…" He titled his head in confusion, "She's gone."

* * *

**Ending Author's Notes…**

**Two Days**. That's how long until Rancid arrives…

I apologize again for how long this took me to update, and I hope you all are still with me. Without much to say, until next time everyone.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back guys, I am not dead. I'm glad I got this done before Christmas, so I can say this is my present to all of my loyal viewers who have helped me get this far **** Keep on rocking everyone, and this will get far, I feel it.**

**With nothing else to say, enjoy!**

**November 19th**

* * *

Helen's fist connected with her target's jaw, picking them up off of their feet and sending them to the ground. She glanced to the side to see the other one try to attack her from the side. She leaned back and grabbed his wrist as his fist sailed past her face. Turning sharply, she grabbed his arm with both hands and flipped him through the air, slamming him on his back and knocking the wind out of him.

Helen huffed. She stuffed her hands in to her pockets and backed up to inspect her handy work. Her day had just started not too long ago, and here she was, already beating on bullies that decided to beat on other people. She knew them from her school, and she was sure they knew her. One of them was sitting up, dazed, and rubbing his jaw, which was sporting an already darkening bruise on the right side. Then she glanced down at the other. On his back, limbs spread out, he was definitely out of it, if his blank expression, mouth gaping like he was a fish and his quiet groans were any indication.

Without a word she turned to the one who was still conscious and pointed over her shoulder. He glared up at her, and moved as if he were about to jump up and attack her again.

Helen's face remained stoic. He didn't jump at her. Try to punch her, or even try for a cheap shot. He had lost. He shuffled on his knees to his fallen friend and shook him. When he was finally coherent enough to walk –or try to walk- he was his friend's crutch and helped him hobble along. Or he dragged his fellow bully along when his legs gave out.

As she looked after them, watching them walk away, she found herself unable to enjoy this victory over the school bullies like she usually did. She frowned, her face scrunched up to express her unhappiness. She started for school with little else to do.

* * *

_***Flashback***_

_Helen unceremoniously kicked open the school doors, and took a couple long strides outside. She was grinning from ear to ear. She threw her hands in the air, and stretched back, inhaling the fresh air at the same, "Aahh! Sitting around for eight hours, five days a week is such a bummer…! Mmm, but at least it's over!" She laughed to herself._

_She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She always chose to use the lesser used exits when the school day was over. This one in particular was one of her most used. It went out to a sketchier portion of the school with graffiti covered walls, tall weeds and little light. It was a section of the school that was left behind and practically forgotten when the new wing was added in her freshman year._

_She thought it was a great place. There was little noise, practically none except for the occasional cricket and or frog. She could get away from the people, and not get swept up in the fast-moving river of students wanting to go home._

_She crouched down, and allowed a roly poly climb on to her finger. She chuckled lightly. The feeling of his tiny little legs moving around as it crawled along her finger and then on to the back of her hand. _

"_Let's put you up here. We don't need ya getting squished…" Helen said softly, placing the little bug on a row of bricks that were left over from something or other, she had no idea of what it was though._

"_Huh!"_

_Her head whipped around here a thud. It was only sound save for humming and buzzing of the few bugs. But this was much louder. It sounded like something hitting metal. __**Thud**__. And there it was again. She looked around, trying to find the source. __**Thud. **__Was it skin? _

"_Someone would be screaming in pain…" She started jogging in the general direction the noise was coming from. It had to be close by. It may have been loud, but that was because there was very little noise in this area._

_**Thud. **_

"_Footsteps…?" She could hear faint thuds seconds before that same noise reached her ears. Over and over, a few seconds of silence followed the loudest of them, and then the footsteps, the same loud noise, and then silence again, "What the hell?" _

"_Hah!" She was getting close to it. There was no mistaking it. Up ahead she spotted an old rusted gate. She could see remnants of still green astro-turf. She slowed her jogging speed to a walk, and got closer to the wall. She reached the corner and peered around to see an abandoned practice field, one she remembered from her freshman days when this place was more crowded._

_It wasn't so abandoned now. Sure, there was one person, but still._

"_Hah!" _

_The kid was dressed in a simple grey polo shirt and track pants that were her school colors. He swung his leg and with his bare foot he struck the ball and it was sent rocketing in to the old goal that was bereft of a net, leaving the rust coated metal frame. It curved through the air and struck the top bat._

_It spun there. Helen's eyes widened and her mouth drop. It spun in place, chipping off thousands of pieces of rus. It gradually slowed down to the point it simply fell to the ground with a dull thud. She looked at the sizable dent it had left in the thick piece of metal. It was still incredibly durable despite its age; that she knew._

_She could see dozens of soccer balls gathered around the goal. And an equal number of dents in the metal frame. _

'_That's a powerful kick… Superhuman even,' She thought. She had to see it again to make sure and her eyes quickly went back to the kid. Just when he was about to get a running start to kick the next ball, his phone rang. He brought it out…_

"_Oui?" He answered. _

_Helen sighed. That was probably his parents or something. There was no real point to interrogating him. Sure, she could probably get him to slip about whatever power he __**might**__ have, but he could just have strong legs and it was as simple as that. That post was durable, but it wasn't immune to hard hits._

_She turned and began her walk home._

_***End Flashback***_

* * *

Helen jumped. She was snapped from her thoughts by a bump against her shoulder. Her head snapped around, and she heard a frightened squeak like noise. She finally came too, and realized that it was just some shorter boy. He certainly looked scared, and Helen sighed. She jerked her head, and that was his signal to go away. He did just that, walking away very quickly.

She stood there for a moment. She glanced around and she could see groups of students walking past her, some giving her strange looks, and the rest ignored her altogether. Turning around she found herself in front of her school. How long had she been walking?

"Hey… Helen," She glanced to her right in time to see Seth walk by her, "Stand there any longer and birds are gonna start roosting," He said with a lazy smile. Helen narrowed her eyes, clearly annoyed with his joke. Birds ate insects! Not cool! Seth saw the imminent danger. He raised his good hand in defense, his right arm still in a sling, "Sorry, sorry… Yeah… Later… I guess," He said rather awkwardly, jogging up the steps.

Helen rubbed the back of her neck, "Yeah… See ya," She started up the steps, shifting her back pack strap on her shoulder.

'_He had a French accent, and I only know one or two people with French accents… I think that kid's name was Pierre… Huh, gonna have to ask him about that sometime. It was an old goal post so who knows.' _She shrugged to herself.

* * *

**Jump Star Private Academy**

'_Maybe an ice spell will do the trick…? Making the roads slippery! Yeah… But wait, I may have to do the same with the road behind the officers, and that would cut off their escape route… Wouldn't it?' _Ariana ran her fingers through her black tresses. Her eyes narrowed, scrutinizing the plays, _'Why can't things be simpler?! An anti-gravity spell? But what if I lose control… That bridge could go in to the air or fold under the weight, putting everyone's lives at stake…' _

"Ms. Masters…"

She rapidly tapped her pencil against her wooden desk, _'A fire spell to melt the tires… But that could lose control as well! Ahhh Crap! I almost forgot about the trucks!' _She thought, dropping her pencil, _'I have to account for Any and All kinds of firepower that Rancid could have packed away!' _

"Ms. Masters…!"

'_RPGs, some new high-tech, military lasers... New tech has been on the rise so I can't rule anything out… But Rancid would be one for destructive weapons that could do a lot of collateral… Maybe dad has heard something!' _

"Ms. Masters! Pay attention this instant!"

"Eep!" Ariana jumped out of her seat, and nearly jumped out of her skin as well. Eyes wide, she noticed her teacher giving her a pointed and rather annoyed stare. She glanced around the room to see all eyes were on her. She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks, her skin growing warmer. She had just yelped in front of the entire class… Her hand came up to gently cover her mouth, and her blush turned a shade darker.

"Uhm…" She murmured.

"Ms. Masters, you may have some of the top grades in this class, and your father may be the Chief of Police, but that gives you no right to slack off in my class, or any other for that matter! Do I make myself clear?" The teacher said sternly, smacking his ruler against the wooden top of his desk, surprising a few other students.

Ariana nodded, keeping her head bowed, "Yes, I understand, Mr. Zane…"

"Good, now take your seat and we'll continue our lesson."

Ariana was quick to sit down. She wanted to disappear… And now that she was beginning to calm down after being so abruptly torn from her thoughts, now that the embarrassment was wearing off, she knew for a fact that she could disappear.

But then again, she was in the middle of class. With a couple dozen other people. And she was having difficulty making clothes disappear along with her…

Her eyes shut tightly. She hated this…

'_Ice spell… Anti-gravity spells… No,' _She thought. She had a variety of spells that would be useful. And she was sure she had many more. If only she had her spell book with her…

'… _I can figure this out! I can figure this out!' _She chanted in her mind. She could figure out something by tomorrow… Right?

* * *

Ariana waved to her friends as they walked off. It was the second time she had to decline their offer to hang out. With Rancid drawing closer and closer, school and all of her 'extracurricular activities', she doubted she had the time to hang out. She leaned back against her lockers and she sighed. Her shoulders slumped…

'_I keep this up and I won't have any friends left… Then again, friends will be the least of my worries soon enough. Johnny comes first…' _

She turned to leave and head back home. She had some serious planning to do. She would devise a plan to stop Johnny even if it took her all night!

Ariana perked up seeing Annie not too far away, her back to her. She opened her mouth to call to her friend, but as a few students passed by, and Annie was in full view, she stopped. Annie was talking with Freddy…

That was puzzling. She didn't mind her friend speaking with other people, of course not. But… Freddy? Even she thought the boy was odd. Her eyes narrowed and a pink gleam shined in her eyes. Her eyes zoomed in so that she could clealr see them. Freddy was averting his eyes; she could see him visibly shaking. He almost seemed… nervous. His thumb was scratching at the styrofoam of his coffee cup. It could've been coffee jitters, after talking with him yesterday she was ninety-nine percent positive he loved his caffeine. But yet…

She noticed Annie stop speaking and Freddy briskly walked away. Annie tapped her cane against the ground and turned in her direction. A wide smile spread across her friend's face, and Ariana jumped.

"Ariana!" Her eyes lost their gleam, and she smiled. Annie approached her, and she lightly tapped her cane against the side of her shoe. Annie embraced her briefly and Ariana hugged her friend back in turn.

"How did you know it was me?" She asked her friend.

"Your perfume, I could smell it from a mile away," Annie said.

"Uh…" Ariana gaped, "Is it… that strong?" She sniffed herself.

"No no no!" Annie quickly caught herself, "I mean I'm around you so much and you where that same brand. I could recognize it anywhere!"

"Oh, okay!" Ariana replied. She glanced away for a second, unsure of whether she should ask the question on her mind or not. She glanced at her friend. Annie tilted her head in confusion, and she lightly tapped the side of Ariana's shoe again.

"You're still there… You're being kinda quiet though, penny for your thoughts?"

"Uhm… I saw you talking to Freddy from our class," Ariana stated. For a brief second, she could've sworn she saw Annie frown, "If you don't mind me asking… What was it about? He seemed kind of nervous."

Annie waved her hand, "Ah, I was just giving him some friendly advice: Lay off of the caffeine," She chuckled, "I could _feel_ him shaking while I was talking to him. The guy is a bundle of nerves. You saw how jumpy he was when you talked to him, right?"

Ariana nodded, murmuring, "Yeah…"Her bright smile returned, "All right then, I was just curious! C'mon, I walk out with you!"

"Want to hang out?" Annie asked her.

"No can do, sorry," Ariana replied apologetically, "I have to help my dad with a few things." She gently placed a hand on Annie's shoulder, ready to help her in case she fell. As they walked along, out of the corner of her eye she spied Freddy talking on his cellphone.

'_Coffee jitters… Obviously…' _She mentally nodded. That was it.

* * *

Helen leaned back against her locker, scanning through the message on her phone. School was out for the day, so she could do this without worry of annoying teachers confiscating it. Better yet, many students had gone, so there were few to annoy her. Even the bullies took a break from beating on their victims; she hadn't needed to teach any of them lessons except for the two from earlier.

A smile spread across her face. Today was a good day…

"Watch out! Sorry! Coming through! Move!" She glanced up to see Seth running around a couple freshmen who were talking casually. They were shoved aside in to the lockers by Russell who was hot on Seth's heels, his two lackeys; Terry and Shaw were behind him.

"Cut him off!" Russell shouted. Terry and Shaw turned sharply down the hallway on their right as they passed by it. Helen pushed herself off of the lockers, glaring after Russell. Students jogged after them, mostly those from the Junior and Senior classes, wanting to see the fight.

"What in the world is going on out here?" Ms. Irons stepped out of her room, and from her tone and body language, she demanded answers.

"Trouble…" Helen started running as well. The hallways were beginning to fill up with people wanting to see the fight, and were blocking her path. She quickly took a right down the same hallway Terry and Shaw had taken, "Give the guy a break Russell!" She hissed.

"Ms. Walker!" Ms. Irons shouted after her, "Ms. Walker!"

* * *

**And that's all.**

**So what did you guys think? Ariana is on the verge of freaking out, Helen might have found something and Seth… Is not having a good time right now. **

**I'll be back after Christmas with a new chapter… Mm, you know what, January 1****st****, 2014. That is when the next chapter will be out **** And I promise you action!**

**Until then everyone, I bid you, Adieu.**


	9. Chapter 9

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! **

**As promised, I came back with a new chapter and I promised to deliver some action to you. That's exactly what you'll get **

**A warning to you guys, some Strong Language in this one. Just thought I should say so.**

* * *

**November 19****th**

"This is such bull… Why me?! I've been a fairly good person!" Seth spat under his breath. He ran as fast his legs could carry him, nearly losing his balance dodging around a couple students who walked in to his way. He successfully caught himself and pushed off of the lockers, "Give me a freaking break, Russell!"

"Go ahead, keep running, McKinnion!" He heard his pursuer shout after him. He was much too focused on running and not knocking anyone down to look back, "Lazy fuck like you can't keep up that pace!" As much as he mocked Russell for his cliché bully tactics, and intelligence –Hey, it's a defense mechanism- unfortunately, this time he was right.

Seth clutched at his heart. He could feel it happening again…

'_No no no! Gotta… Keep running! … Put that adrenaline to better use! C'mon Mckinnion! C'mon C'mon C'mon!' _He chanted in his mind. Over and over again he chanted this in his mind, trying his damnedest to somehow try and control his adrenaline rush. He could feel his heart pounding against the inside of his chest. The noise was deafening in his ears. He could only vaguely hear yelling behind him.

He couldn't focus on that. He had to run away.

* * *

_Seth sighed in relief. The last class of the day was over. He didn't have to deal with his teacher's boring him to sleep, waking him up with a lecture on how he would never get anywhere by sleeping in their class, only to continue with their boring lesson and put him to sleep. Hey, if they didn't drawl on and on, sounding like they were bored of their own material, then he wouldn't sleep…_

_He knew what he was going to do. He was going to grab a drink on the way home, maybe one for Connie, and then he'd spend every hour he had until he would sleep either hanging out with Darren if he could, or playing video games. Either way, he'd get to relax. He'd been lucky enough to avoid Russell, Terry and Shaw. And, if he could, he'd like to keep it that way. He ran a hand through his scraggly brown hair, and decided to pull it back so that it was in a short ponytail and out of his way…_

_Today wasn't so bad_

"_Hey there, Seth! Ol' buddy, ol' pal!"_

_Shit._

_Seth froze feeling an arm around his shoulders, and he glanced to see Russell smiling down at him. He could see that Terry and Shaw weren't too far away. Russell was nearly on the verge of squeezing his neck with his bicep and forearm, and Seth got the feeling that his blond haired enemy wanted to do that, and more._

"_You've been avoiding us, pal," Russell said, shaking Seth a bit, "Helen saved you once, and then you pulled a disappearing trick. Why won't you just take your lumps like a man? Get it over with?" He asked, almost in a friendly tone. Russell's arm did tighten around Seth's neck, and the brunette reached for his arm, "It's best to let me vent my frustration while it's not so bad, then to let it reach a boiling point, where… Well, I just can't keep it contained."_

"_Agh!" Seth flinched away from a fast and powerful punch to his ribs. He was lucky Russell had missed his arm, or he just hadn't been aiming for it._

"_So follow me, don't make a scene, and I promise to hold back a bit, hopefully not all of your ribs will be broken."_

_Seth planted his firmly against the floor, as firmly as he could anyway. It seemed like Russell was waiting for an answer. The brunette started to move his right slightly, though he was sure neither Russell of his lackeys saw it. He could feel his heart beat quickening. He had to get out of there…_

"_Sorry…" Seth started, "But this is for your own good…!" Seth struck Russell's ribs with a harsh blow from his elbow. The blond let him go, and Seth took his chance. He pushed away Terry who had reached him first, and luckily, he had pushed him straight in to Shaw._

_He ran, he ran as fast his legs could carry him._

'_This cannot be happening! This cannot happen again!' _

* * *

If he stopped running, he was almost one-hundred percent certain that things would not end well, for him or Russell. He knew he couldn't stop. Not if he didn't want a repeat of last time…

He was running so fast. He could barely hear a thing, and his vision had already started to tunnel, black creeping in to his line of sight. He never saw it coming until it was too late. An arm was thrust in to his path, and before he even had a chance to react he was clotheslined. He felt his heart skip a beat as his feet left the solid ground. He could feel his windpipe being crushed, and when he gasped for air, he got nothing.

The next second he slammed in to the ground. He immediately reached for his throat, and rolled on to his knees. He sputtered, coughed, and he gasped for air all at the same time. That single second of being deprived of precious oxygen scared the daylights out of him.

"Nice… Try!" Seth couldn't see who, but one of Russell's lackeys emphasized his last word with a swift kick to his ribs. Seth gasped in pain, and quickly scurried away from them. He pulled himself up using the lockers. He glanced over his shoulder to see that Terry and Shaw had blocked his only means of escaping.

Which meant…

"Good work there, Terry…"

'_Dammit all…' _It was Russell. The blond haired bully wore a wicked smile. He shrugged off his jacket, and popped his knuckles. Anyone who didn't see him coming and immediately move was shoved aside without a second thought. Seth clinched and unclenched his left hand over and over again. The fingers of his right hand twitched. He could feel his arm shaking in its sling…

'_I cannot freaking deal with this right now… Gotta calm down, Gotta calm down, Calm –The Fuck! – Down!'_

He focused all of his efforts on calming his adrenaline rush. He never saw it coming until it was too late. Russell's fist struck his jaw with the force he thought was the equivalent of kissing a moving freight train. It felt like it anyway. Seth's vision faded for a brief second. His world was spinning. He suddenly crashed against something metallic, and very hard. He guessed it was the lockers.

He had no time to gather himself. A hand grabbed on to the back of his shirt, and pulled him back. His breath hitched in his throat, feeling a powerful blow strike his spine. He was whirled around, and another powerful punch struck him square in his jaw. This one picked him up off of his feet and threw him to the ground. Unfortunately, he landed on his right arm.

"Aaaagh!" Seth rolled on to his back, and thrashed. He hit the back of his head against the floor in his haze of pain. He wanted something else to focus on instead of his arm, but he found it only made his pain worse.

"Hahahaha! Oh man, this feels great! Venting anger and getting some revenge at the same time! Man, I love violence!" Russell exclaimed, punching at the air. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Aaaagh! Hell… You son of a – Agh!" Seth rolled on to his side and slowly lifted himself up so that he was on his knees, doubled over and clutching at his injured arm. He found out quickly that it was a bad decision, because it gave Russell access to his unguarded ribcage.

Seth gasped, his breath hitching in his throat. He was struck harshly in his ribs. He was knocked on to his side again, and he coughed, unable to breath after such a harsh blow. He used his feet, and moved away as Russell went for another kick. Seth shakily pushed himself on to all fours and coughed violently. He clutched at his ribs…

'_Can't… Can't breathe…' _His ribs weren't broken or fractured. The pain would be a lot worse, though he could probably attribute the lack of pain due to the sheet amount he was feeling now and his adrenaline. His heart was beathing against the inside of his chest cavity. His head was pounding. His throat felt like it was constricting, and his vision was really beginning to tunnel…

Seth gritted his teeth. He lifted his head and struck his forehead against the ground.

"Heh, what's going on down there, Mckinnion? Trying to stop yourself from crying?" Russell asked crouching down, his mouth curled in to condescending smirk. He looked down at the beaten brunette and spit on Seth from a distance, "C'mon… You're makin' a fist there, so I take it you want to fight me?" Russell immediately shot in to action and closed the short distance between them with one long stride. One leg went forward, and he planted his foot firmly on the ground.

His other leg went way back, and he swung. The tip of his foot, with all of that momentum, struck Seth squarely in his stomach. The young man was sent skidding across the tiled floor, with students jumping back so that he wouldn't hit them.

Seth rolled on to his stomach, and weakly lifted himself up, barely off of the floor he vomited out his stomach contents, and coughed violently.

"You're not getting in any cheap shots! And no is going to fucking save you! You Are Dead!" Russell snarled, advancing on his victim.

"Russell… Stop it… Stop it now…" Seth said. He dry heaved. He was rather lucky he had pulled his hair back beforehand, "Stop… Stop it now…" He was begging. Not for his own safety though… In the back of his mind, he felt an urge. His left hand, the one he still had use of, balled in to a fist. Despite his blurring vision, he could see it. There were five faint trenches through the tile that he had dragged his fingers across.

"Or what?! Eh? Gonna fucking sucker punch like you did back then?" Russell stood over Seth and raised his foot. He brought it down heel first on Seth's back. He raised his foot and brought it down again and again on Seth's lower back, "You piece of shit! I'll teach you not to mess with me, asshole! Nobody fucking crosses me!" Russell was livid. He brought his foot down again, with more force that nearly flattened Seth against the floor, but the brunette caught himself.

Seth slowly raised himself back up, "Russell… Cut it out… Stop it now…"

"Speak up!" Russell shouted. Seth could faintly hear shouting at a distance that wasn't Russell, but his heart was pounding too loudly in his ears to hear, "SPEAK UP! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME!? You Begging, Mckinnion!? Eh, if so, let's hear it, Bitch!" Russell had a new target now: The back of Seth's head, "Better be quick about it!"

He raised his leg much higher. He intended to cause some damage.

The very millisecond Russell's foot began its descent. Seth's head whipped around, and in a rage he roared, "CUT IT OUT!" To everyone's surprise, even Russell's, Seth shot up. Fast. Russell's foot struck the side of his head, but Russell's surprise and Seth meeting the attack head-on, literally, lessened its damage.

As Seth shot up on to his feet, Russell was thrown off balance. Seth jumped at Russell and the two went to the ground with Russell on bottom.

Seth drew his fist back, veins popping up all along his arm. He brought his fist down. Russell watched it miss. The attacked missed, striking the floor just to the left of his head. Seth drove his fist in to the tiled floor with such force that shards of tiles shot up. Cracks tore through tile after tile, stretching from one side of the hall to the other. It shook the lockers, and several students lost their balance if they were close enough, or straight out fell on their rears.

Russell, shocked, his mouth agape, and after such words, threatening Seth like he had, he looked frightened, "Wha – What the hell are you?"

Seth didn't answer. His right arm began to visibly shake and he slowly pulled it from its sling. He clinched his fist so tight that Russell heard several pops, and he watched as veins began to pop up on Seth's hand and his arm. The blond-haired bully quickly brought his arms up, crossing them in front of his face in an attempt to protect his face from what was about to happen.

Seth slowly pulled his arm back, "I told you to stop… I can't… I can't…" He started to hyperventilate. Russell took his chance.

He swung his left arm, backhanding Seth and knocking the dazed young man to the ground. Russell rolled and straddled his victim. He wrapped his left hand around Seth's throat. The young man weakly raised his right arm, and tried to free himself, but to no avail. Russell drew back his right arm, his hand balling in to a fist.

"Back… Off!" Seth wheezed, trying to struggle free.

"Not a chance!" Russell replied. He threw his punch. It was mere inches from Seth's face! Inches away from dealing that blow that surely would've broken his nose! But his fist was stopped.

His head whipped around, and there she was. Helen Walker had stopped him a second time! That was two times too many, "Fucking bug-eyes! You want to fight me too, eh?!" Helen didn't answer with her words, but gripped his upper arm tightly and pulled Russell off of Seth. The blond haired bully scrambled to his feet, and he dodged a punch that Helen threw.

"That answer your question?" She asked, and Russell sneered.

Both of them took a step forward, Russell threw fast right hook, but Helen ducked under it. The wind that followed rustled her hair and there was a hollow echo within the lockers, _'That's a lot of power…' _Helen thought. She was quick to act. With her feet planted firmly, she threw an uppercut.

Russell stepped back, and he bent his knees. A wicked grin spread across his face. He stepped in to Helen's guard.

'_Shi - !' _"- Agh!" Helen felt a sharp pain. She glanced down to see Russell's fist planted squarely in her stomach. The blond haired bully pushed her back, and Helen doubled over, holding her stomach. Her knees nearly buckled.

"Hah! Teach you to mess with m - Aggh!"Russell stopped mid-sentence. Helen attacked him with a straight punch to his stomach. He took a step back, and Helen capitalized. She was quick, very quick. In the blink of an eye she cleared the short distance between them and she delivered a fast jabbed to Russell's nose, making his head whip back.

Helen threw a right hook and delivered a harsh blow to Russell's jaw. Using the rotation of her hook, she spun on her heels and with a closed fist, delivered an equally harsh backhand that sent Russell stumbling in to the lockers.

"Whoa!"

"That was awesome!"

"Did you see that?"

"So fast!"

The students surrounding them were clapping, whooping and cheering. They were ecstatic to see Russell Thrush, one of the harshest bullies in school, getting beaten by a girl. And the irony was that it was Helen Walker, notorious for her hatred of bullies, and her giving them a taste of their own medicine.

"Get her!" Russell snarled.

"Look out!" Helen whipped around, she knew that voice. It was Colette, who was covering her mouth with both hands, her eyes were wide. Helen knew why. She was suddenly tackled by Shaw, one of Russell's lackeys. She managed to push him off, but she took a harsh punch to her face from Terry.

"Agh!" Helen was knocked on to her rear. She glared up at the two boys that attacked her, and she saw Russell smirking out of the corner of her eyes, "Three on one…" She spit on to the floor, "Asshole!"

"And just what made you think I cared about a fair fight?" Russell replied.

Helen glared as hard as she could. She honestly wished looks could kill, or at least that she could bore holes through the arrogant bastard's head. She picked herself up, and Terry and Shaw were ready to fight her. She noticed Russell set his sights on Seth who was sitting down, leaving back against some lockers. His knuckles were torn and his left arm looked like it was in bad shape. With all that was going on though, she didn't blame anyone for stepping in to help him. Russell was no pushover…

Helen raised her fists, and Terry was the first one to attack her. He came at her with his arm drawn back. Helen had planned to bob and weave, and knock the lackey on his butt with a single punch. That is, until someone stepped in. He was a grey blur to her, he moved fast from behind her and he delivered a straight punch to Terry's face. There was a loud crunch and the red-head was thrown to the ground, where he clutched at his bleeding nose.

"Mind if I cut in?" A grey haired young man asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Son of a – Agh! Bloody hell!" Shaw moved to attack, but he was jumped by two underclassmen. A kid with messy black hair jumped on to Shaw's back, and he wrapped one arm around Shaw's neck, and then he locked in the hold with his other arm. He wrapped his legs around Shaw's abdomen, locking one of the bully's arms at his side. An African American boy moved swiftly after that. He struck the back of one of Shaw's knees, and quickly wrapped his around Shaw's to keep him from swinging.

"Aaaa - Urgh!" Shaw screamed in pain for a brief second, before the young man cut him short, tightening his hold more so, but not enough to make Shaw pass out.

Helen felt a smirk tug at her lips. Boy, did she want to. She kept it down, wanting to keep up her tough demeanor. She focused her attention on Russell, who had stopped mid-step. He was visibly shaking. But she doubted that it was because of fear.

The blond-haired bully roughly swept his hand through his short hair and exhaled heavily. He pointed to Helen, "First you," Then to the grey haired teen that had floored Terry, "Then you," And then to the two underclassmen keeping Shaw down, "And then you two little punks, that is the order that I am going to fucking kill you in, got it?"

"Aww, someone's upset now that the numbers are against _them_," Helen mocked, popping her knuckles.

Russell snarled, and advanced on Helen. The blond took her fighting stance.

Russell drew his arm back. It was Helen, the grey-haired boy or anyone else to stop him. It was a teacher. Mr. Porter had quickly moved through the crowd, and grabbed Russell by his arm, "That'll be enough of that!" He bellowed, "From all of you! The rest of you students go home, Immediately!"

"Don't. Touch. Me!" Russell roared. He wrenched his arm free, and in his shock, Mr. Porter couldn't protect himself or stop the young man again before he was sent to the floor by a vicious punch to his jaw.

"Thrush, enough!" Mr. Seele and another male teacher quickly moved through the throng of students and Russell before he could do anymore damage. It just barely helped. Russell thrashed and fought in his rage, trying to get free. It was incredible the amount of strength he must have had. Helen had backed away, and so had the grey-haired boy and the two underclassmen, now that more teachers had come along to restrain Russell's lackeys as well, and keep them in line.

She watched as Russell moved towards Seth even with three teachers trying to hold him back, Mr. Porter having recovered, "You! We're not done! I'll kill you, you bastard!" She glanced over to Seth, who still looked out of it. A female teacher was at his side, and talking to him, but he didn't seem to be responding.

'_Seth's way too mellow to do… Anything bad…' _She glanced back to Russell for a brief second and looked over to Seth, _'What the hell did he do for this kind of hate?' _

"Aaaaagggh! Agh – Let me go! Let me go!" Russell screamed, trying to push off the teachers while he thrashed about. He swung on the teachers, and they actually winced if he managed to strike them. Even they were so close together, leaving Russell little room to hit properly and gain momentum for his hits, he was still causing a bit of damage.

"Ah! – Taze him!" Seele shouted. A security guard nodded, and the three teachers moved away from him quickly just as the security guard unholstered his stun gun. Russell rushed at Seth, but he abruptly stopped. He convulsed on the spot, shaking wildly as a massive amount of volts were pumped in to his body. He screamed out. He slowly reached back to try and rip out the prongs in his back, but a second later and he passed out.

"All students shall disperse Immediately!" A woman screeched. Unlike with Mr. Porter, when the students chose to stick around, quite a few started running once Ms. Irons came on to the scene. She was looking none too happy at that. She surveyed the scene.

Helen Walker, a girl she knew was as notorious for fighting as Russell Thrush. She had a busted lip, but that seemed to be the extent of her injuries. She rounded on the two boys that she learned had been restraining Shaw Hayfield, and she knew them well enough as they were two students from her freshman class.

"Mr. Thorton and Mr. Jones, I never expected either of you to involve yourselves in violence such as this," She rounded on the grey-haired boy, "Nor you, Mr. Ashken. You may not be a full-time student here, but even after hours You _will_ abide by the same rules as those who are! Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal…" The grey-haired boy replied, scratching the back of his head, "Hey, we were just helping this guy…" He motioned to Seth, and Ms. Irons' widened immensely once she saw the boy, "David, Ms. Winters, escort the boy to the nurse… No, David, call the Paramedics, he shouldn't be moved. I will call his parents."

Mr. Seele nodded, bringing out his cellphone.

Her head whipped around, giving each and every student involved a harsh glare, "_Every. _One of you will be meeting with the principal regarding this, and Officer Denacour, I want Mr. Thrush restrained with zip-ties. He'll be meeting with the disciplinary committee, and potentially much more once we talk with Mr. Mckinnion."

The officer nodded, and proceeded to restrain the blond young man.

"Everyone capable of walking on their own! To the principal's office. _Now!" _She screeched.

* * *

**And that's all for chapter 9 folks. **

**I have very little to say. It's 2014, and that is absolutely awesome, more so that I managed to finish this in time and bring in the New Year with a brand new chapter. **

**I really hope you guys enjoyed this, I know I enjoyed writing it. Drop a Review, and I will see you next time.**


	10. Chapter 10

**And we're here with a milestone, of sorts; I'd like to think it is: Chapter 10!**

**Last chapter got some good feedback, and I was happy to see that you guys enjoyed the fight scene. Fanfiction was acting all kinds of funky the day I posted so… It was weird. Feedback, and no actual story views to show for it :) Meh, not that I mind. I got the feedback anyway :)**

**On to the story!**

* * *

**November 20th**

"Yaaaahhoooo! Destroy! Destroy everything in your reach!" Motorcycle engines roared as several dozen zoomed down the street during the evening hours. Their red tail lights leaving short trails behind them. Steel mailboxes were sent flying, windows were shattered, and street lamps were severed! Blades surrounded by arcs of electricity sliced through metal as if were butter.

"Molotovs at the ready!" The leader at the front of the group ignited a rag hanging from a bottle, and one by one a dozen more flames came to life behind him, "Burn'em all! Ahahaha!" His wicked laughter came through even over the thunderous engines. His crew let loose howls as each and every one of them tossed their Molotov cocktails on to the sidewalks and on to homes, setting them ablaze.

People ran in terror, several dozen ran in to alleyways to get away from Johnny Rancid, and get out of his way. No one wanted to be caught in his path of destruction.

"I love the smell of destruction in the afternoon!" Johnny laughed. He took his hands off the handlebars and brought our twin laser pistols. He shot out several lights that had turned red on their way. With howling laughter he aimed his guns at the buildings that passed by, he put them on automatic and unloaded dozens of shots every few seconds, riddling homes, stores and office buildings with holes.

Several people were caught in the cross-fire. Anyone who saw Johnny coming and were unable to get inside threw themselves to the ground. Parents protected their children. Others even used their fellow man as human shields. People's screams were drowned out by the roar of the engines…

"Feels good to be bad! Damn good!" Johnny exclaimed, holstering his guns and taking hold of the handles. He placed his right hand to his ear, "Yo! Check in, Foremen, status on the trucks?"

[This is foreman one and the cargo is secure. Not a scratch on the truck. All riders accounted for in my sector.]

[[Foreman two checking in. The Cargo is secure, the truck is untouched. I think we might have a new recruit in our ranks here.]]

"Eh, what do you mean by that?" It couldn't be...

[[A new biker is riding with us. Chick from the looks of that nice rack,]] Johnny calmed down. It wasn't after all. Being so close to Jump City, he had been worried for a moment, [[Helmet's hiding her face. Her bike doesn't have our symbol or colors, so I figured she just joined up and we didn't realize it.]]

Johnny grinned from ear to ear, "Well, if she keeps up with us, then once we find our new home in Jump City we'll give her a proper initiation in to the Wreckers! Until then have a few of the boys keep an eye on her, don't need her tryin' to peak in the trucks."

[[Right, boss.]]

And with that he cut contact with his two lackeys that he charged with leading the other groups, and then established contact with his own convoy following him, "Hey boys! We got us some fresh meat! Sweater meat that is! We got us a new groupie! Hahahaha!" And with that came dozens of whoops and hollers from the dozen or so bikers following him, "Just lettin' you lot know, we'll be givin' her a real Wrecker's welcome after we get in to Jump City." He cut contact with them, and even so he could hear their cheers and excited howls.

He revved his engine twice, and flames spewed from his dual exhaust and the skull ornament on the front of his motorcycle. He reared his head back and let loose a howling laughter.

"Ahahahahaha! Oooooh Yeah! It's good to be King, baby!" He exclaimed, "Johnny Rancid is comin' home! Yaaaahhoooo!"

* * *

**Jump City Bay Bridge...**

The day had finally arrived. It was November twentieth, and to Police Chief Vincent Briar, it had felt like the longest three days in his life. He had to deal with the rest of the petty criminals running rampant as well as small riots and protests that had broken out around the city. People were scared, and that proved it. They were scrambling to get supplies so that they could hole up in their houses and not have to deal with Johnny or his new crew.

People were rallying others to protest with them, preaching about how there must've been new supers in the city. They used the sightings of some sword carrying vigilante, and reports of a kid literally disappearing in to shadows as parts of their platforms. They wanted for anyone with even remotely superhuman abilities to leave the city. They didn't want protection from Johnny, no, they thought that these supers were the reason Johnny was coming back. He had caused so much damage in the past after the Titan's had left, what other reason would he have for coming back?

Chief Briar almost agreed with that. Johnny had left. He had made an announcement that he had grown bored. So had many of the other villains that had gone on rampages hearing the Titan's had left Jump City. So, why would he come back? There was much to come back too.

Small riots, protests that ended in screaming of being sued over denying them their first amendment rights, some looting now and again when shoppers became to antsy to wait and buy their supplies. Just the mere mention of Johnny coming back a few days ago had caused him and the city a lot of trouble.

Today was the day.

"Are you sure about this, Ariana?" He asked the shorter police officer by his side. The brim off her police cap hid her eyes, but he could still see the lower half of her face. He saw the smile pull at her lips. She looked up at him. She had changed her appearance, at least her looks, since a large portion of his precinct knew what she looked like. He knew it was her.

"Yeah," She said with a nod, "I've got a couple plans in mind, and they should work."

"…You said should," The man stated, "That means there's a likelihood that what you've got in store will fail, doesn't it?" She didn't answer him. But her silence was a definitive yes, "Your hands are shaking, Ariana," He stated. He saw her wring her wrists and try and keep her hands out of his sight, but to no avail.

"You're used to helping us deal with petty criminals and the occasional street gang. Murderers… Large scale robbers…" He took a moment to pop his collar to protect himself a bit from the cold wind coming from their left, "But Johnny Rancid, he wasn't much back then, but he is a lot worse now. Worse than what you're used to dealing with."

He and Ariana were leaning against the side of a police car, and he gently touched her forearm, "If you want to leave,I won't stop you. A lot is about to go down, and depending on whatever Johnny is caring in those trucks, things might get a bit messy." Chief Briar may have sounded like he was giving her a choice, but he knew Ariana understood him. It was his way of asking her to leave. He wanted her too. Even if she wasn't his blood, he didn't want to lose his daughter.

Ariana shook her head, "No way! I'm your secret weapon against Johnny!" She tried not to be too loud as she said this, "He doesn't know who I am or what I can do!" She grinned, "And I'm sure my plan will work, it's fool-proof! I know it!"

"Hmph…" Chief Vincent nodded. She was an adamant one. He actually wondered why he had even tried to convince her to reconsider this in the first place. It hadn't worked the last three times he tried either. He coughed in to his gloved hand, and then turned to the dozens of police officers stationed on the bridge behind him, "Have your guns locked and loaded, ready to fire on my command. If you're not ready by the time they get here, then you're dead. Johnny and his crew won't pull any punches if it comes to that. Batons and a riot shields only. Only draw your weapons if they do the same. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" Came a chorus of voices. Some were ready now with their shotguns leaning against their shoulders, and others with their hands on their sidearms. Other were doing just as he had commanded and readying their firearms for the upcoming firefight.

He reached up to his ear, "Unit leaders, relay that message to your squads as well. If they manage to break past our barricade, then the next two will be ready, and we'll cut down Johnny or at least most of his crew."

[Yes Sir!]

He received quick replies. He glanced over his shoulder and in the distance he could see the other two barricades he had placed along the bridge. He could see them moving around and getting their arms ready.

He hated it. He hated that he would be putting not only the lives of his men on the line against a very dangerous criminal, but also his own daughter. He turned to face the long stretch of bridge. He cupped his hands over his mouth and exhaled slowly, trying to warm them. He glanced down at Ariana. Her hands were balled in to fists at her sides. He could see the look on her face.

She was determined to see this to the end. He knew that.

"If things escalate, run, understand?" He made it sound more like a demand than a plea.

"I have to protect the other officers. Johnny could have weapons that will make their ballistic vests look like nothing by paper. I can at least put up strong barricades," She replied, "I'm doing this, Dad," She looked him dead in his eyes.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she looked up at him, and that was end of his protests. There was that fire in her eyes and that determination. He could easily berate her, and for a second act like her father, rather than the Police Chief. He could tell her to go home immediately, saying that this too dangerous for her. But then again, he had said it in the past when she helped the department with various cases, and she never turned her back on them to go home. She kept at it.

"That had better be one strong shield," Vincent said.

"I think I do pretty good with them," Ariana stated with a smile.

He nodded and looked ahead of him. The weather had been good to them, except for the cold front passing through. There had been no rain; the sun had barely broken through the clouds even before Johnny's announcement. There was no fog. He could see clearly to the other end of the bridge.

He had snipers look down on the bridge, not to fire, but to make sure Johnny didn't try anything. There was only one way in to Jump City and it was through him.

"They're coming…" Ariana stated. The Police Chief nodded.

In the distance roaring engines could be heard. Hollers and cheers too amazingly. It was nothing by a black dot in the distance that gradually became a black line as it came closer, and then things began to take shape. Johnny was at the front of it all, speeding towards them no less than a few dozen bikers behind him surrounding two military-grade trucks.

"Is he going to stop?" Ariana asked. Her hands began to glow with her magical energy.

Chief Briar's eyes narrowed and he raised his left hand high, his right hand on his pistol, "Weapons are the ready, prepare to fire on my mark!" He exclaimed.

Johnny revved his engine and his front wheel rose up off of the road and he performed a wheelie. He showed no signs of slowing down.

"Ready!" Vincent shouted louder this time. Ariana curled her fingers and balls of glowing light began to form in her palms.

Johnny brought his wheel down and a red energy surrounded his front wheel first and then enveloped the man, making him nothing but a streak of red light speeding toward them. The next second Johnny burst from the red light, and he was a changed man.

His skin was grey with red jagged lines that replaced his once black tattoos along his arms. His hair, once black, was dark red and his mohawk became spikes that pointed in every direction. The whites of his eyes became black, and his irises became red. His motorcycle changed as well, becoming mostly black with a red circuit-board pattern. His wheels were covered by the same red energy that had changed him.

"What the hell?!" the chief cursed.

"'Sup Piggies?!" He shouted. He took a sharp turn, and he launched a wave of red energy from the arc of his back wheel. They wave grew and grew as it moved towards them. Chief Briar and Ariana were thrown back against their car, and several officers were thrown to the ground by it. It was harmless wave; it was nothing more than a scare tactic…

Johnny put down the kick stand and hopped off of his bike. He stretched his arms above his head, and audibly inhaled through his nose, "Ahh! Smell that salty, smog-filled air! Feels good to be back on my old stomping grounds!"

"I would say it's nice to see you…" Chief Briar unholstered his weapon, "But then I'd be lying."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Johnny said with a smile, putting his hands up, "What's with the hostility? I'm an unarmed man, are you really gonna shoot me? I don't think that'll look very good with your higher ups…"

"You're a dangerous criminal. Whatever you did just now to change yourself makes you an even greater threat now," Chief Briar took aim, "That warrants deadly force if necessary. Surrender yourself now, Johnny. Unless you want to go six feet under."

"Hehehe… Ahahahaha!" Chuckling turned in to full blown laughter. Johnny wrapped his arms around his own stomach, doubling over. He was in hysterics. He went to his knees and he slammed his fist against the ground, creating a sizable pothole, "Oooh… oh-ho… Ahahaha! Oh man! You really think that you can take me? News flash, dumbass!" Johnny jumped to his feet, "That pistol is a pea-shooter to me when I'm like this!"

"_Gnilioc Leets niahcs!" (Binding Steel Chains)_

Johnny stood perfectly still as dozens of pink chains appeared and wrapped around him, dozens more shot past him and he heard his crew shout in protest. He could hear the rattling of chains.

"Get out of that!" Ariana exclaimed. She held her hands in front of her, and purple electricity sparked. She readied her next spell.

Johnny smirked. A red aura surrounded both and his chains. They started to rust and corrode, and after only a few seconds he broke free. He dusted his shoulders off, "That all you got?"

Ariana fired several magical electric bolts and they struck Johnny. He moved his body as he had been struck, but there was no visible damage. Just smoke rising off of his skin.

"Ariana, duck!" Vincent demanded. She did just that, "Open fire!"

Johnny clapped his hands together and a red wall of energy was erected just in front of him. Bullets zoomed through the air and struck the wall but nothing happened, "Stop! Dammit, stop firing!" The Police Chief demanded, yelling over the gunfire. Once it was all over, Johnny let the wall drop and hundreds of bullets clattered to the ground.

"C'mon! The chick knows some moves, let her fight me!" Johnny exclaimed, "I'm gettin' bored over here! Gimme something to do!" He was almost whining. Ariana took a step forward, her fists glowing with her magical energy, but Chief Briar put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"There's no way! I was with you fighting at a distance, but I will not let you fight Johnny by yourself!" He hissed, pulling her back.

"But dad!"

"Pfft! Dad?!" Johnny laughed, going in to hysterics again, "Oh.. Oh-ho! That is rich, Ahahaha! Awww! That wittle baby has to get permission from her daddy to fight the mean bad guy!" He mocked, slapping his knee. His crew, still trapped in chains, laughed as well.

"Errr!" Ariana blushed crimson and her energy created an aura around her.

"Calm Down!" Her father berated her, "He's goading you in! Calm down, right now!"

"How cute! Father and Daughter bonding time!" Johnny threw his head back, howling with laughter.

Tensions were running high. Chief Briar didn't want a fight to break out, especially between his own daughter and this dangerous criminal. He had had no problems with her fighting thieves and robbers in the past, but only because she had had back up or they were pushovers that she could take down without breaking a sweat. But this was Johnny Rancid, an empowered Johnny Rancid at that…

**BOOM! **

"What the hell?!" Johnny and the Chief shouted. The red-haired menace whirled around in time to see the last of the flames rising from an explosion toward the back end of his crew. That one triggered several more.

"Look out!"

"Out of the way!"

He heard an engine rev and a motorcycle flew over one the trucks. He followed it as it traveled over him as well. It blocked out what little sunlight there was. He could see something akin to a cape flowing behind whoever it was.

"No … No freakin' way!" He shouted. The mirth was gone, and it was replaced by rage, "There's no way in hell!"

* * *

**And so the fated day has finally arrived, and Johnny Rancid and his new crew, The Wreckers, have arrived. Just to clarify, he did indeed change in to the powered Johnny Rancid after he absorbed some of Larry's power.**

**Does Johnny have something up his sleeve to combat the police? Will Ariana really try to fight him alone? Who was that on the motorcycle?  
**

**Keep reading to find out :)**


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